Translating India, constructing self

This article explores the translation activity of the Russian Silver Age symbolist poet Konstantin Bal’mont. He is unique among his peers in his choice of texts to translate, ranged from the ancient Indian drama which Sakuntala to the first Russian translation of the Mayan Epic Popol Vuh. Bal’mont’s role as translator of the Indian text inspired him to posit the Eastern drama as a solution to the cultural crisis of naturalism and positivism in fin-de-siècle Russian theater. More importantly, Bal’mont adopted and articulated a policy of text selection for translation into Russian that eschewed texts from classical antiquity, which were accepted and privileged by the West, opting instead for texts from “authentic” antiquities, such as India and Egypt. Bal’mont in his role as cultural mediator advocated translating truly ancient texts into Russian in order to delineate a more expanded understanding of the Russian self.Where are you, o unknown God,o future Rome?– Dmitrii Merezhkovskii, “Future Rome”Under the Himalayas, whose peaksreach Heaven’s splendor,I understood the clarity of the musesamid the valley mists.– Konstantin Bal’mont, “Fire”