"On Swann's Side" by Marcel Proust – the "toil" of a literary masterpiece

French writer Marcel Proust (1871-1922)

Among the authors and works mentioned above, up to this point, Vietnamese readers have been fortunate to have access toLolitaby Nabokov,The Case, The Castleof Kafka,Under the shadow of teenage girlsandSwann's side(two of the seven volumes of the series)In Search of Lost Time) by Marcel Proust.Ulyssess by James Joyce, an Irish writer, will probably take a long time (due to the special difficulties in the author's own writing style) to reach readers. Why is that? It is not difficult to answer right away that the author himself may have intentionally created that. James Joyce once said, half-jokingly, half-seriously, that he wroteUlysseswas to “provide employment” for university professors for centuries to come: “I have included so many enigmas and puzzles in Ulysses that it will keep professors busy for centuries arguing about what I meant, and that is the only way to ensure the immortality of the work.”[1]. Nabokov, the Russian-American writer, also recounted the difficulties he encountered when publishing his works.LolitaHow and why the same work had to be written in two versions, English and Russian, causing headaches for many translators. Around the publishing issueLolita, Nabokov recounted, as soon as the manuscript was sent to the publisher, the editors immediately rejected it, even "threatening" him that they could "fall into prison" if they published such a work. The case of the works of Kafka, a Czech writer of Jewish origin, who wrote in German, was different. During his lifetime, Kafka only published one short storyIncarnateand some short stories. The remaining three proper novelsThe Case, Castle, AmericaBefore he passed away, he handed them over to his close friend Max Brod, who was also a writer, with the last words to burn them all after his death. Fortunately, Max Brod probably sensed his close friend's talent in the pages he left behind, so he did not burn them. And the fate of three of the greatest works of the 20th century Western fiction has gone through many ups and downs before it was published, and until now it is still constantly discussed, and has consumed a lot of ink from researchers. Max Brod recounted that after Kafka passed away, he sent the manuscriptThe Case, Castle, Americato many people for appraisal, including writer Thomas Mann, one of the "big trees" of German literature at that time. And he received an answer from the "big tree" of German literature: "Dear friend, I believe that the author of these books is a good man, but he is just a bad writer.”. Whether Kafka was really a “bad writer” or not, perhaps now we all have found the most accurate answer for ourselves (?).

It is true that behind the birth of literary masterpieces there are many troubles. The novelIn Search of Lost TimeMarcel Proust's, Special, Vol. 1Swann's side, even at the time of its birth more than 100 years ago in France, there were also such "troublesome" stories. Very recently, with their efforts, a group of famous translators[2]In Vietnam, with the support of the French Embassy, ​​Nha Nam Culture and Communication Company, Literature Publishing House has published the Vietnamese translation of the first volume of the 7-volume novel series.In search of lost time.Needless to say, the vast majority of readers have had their long-awaited expectations satisfied by such a masterpiece! However, there are still a few voices expressing dissatisfaction. The dissatisfaction of a few readers with such a masterpieceSwann's sideMarcel Proust's The Legend of Zelda is also understandable. With a masterpiece, who wouldn't want to have the most perfect? ​​To help readers understand this better, and also to affirm the true value of the original work, and the great efforts of the translation team, we would like to provide some additional documents below in the hope that the nature of the problem will be more correctly understood by a wider readership. Due to the limited capacity of an article, we will only stop at providing some of the most concise information around 3 issues: The process of forming the novelIn Search of Lost TimeMarcel Proust's (1), what French researchers and publishers said about the book at the time of its publication (2), and the wishes and contributions of the translators (3).

Book cover"On the Swann side"

Marcel Proust cherished the novelIn Search of Lost Timefrom about 1909. InIntroductionIn volume 1 of this book series, translator Le Hong Sam, who is also a long-time expert on French literature, representing the translation team, wrote the following lines: “From the beginning of the summer of 1909, Proust lived in seclusion, locked in his room with the door closed, the floor, the walls, and the very high ceiling all lined with layers of cork, not letting in any sound. From now on, he wanted to live only for the great, only work of his life. At night, he sometimes left the house, only to meet some of the people he spoke of, in the process of recreating the immense mansion of nostalgia.”[3]It was not until 1927, that is, nearly 20 years later, that the 7-volume novel seriesIn Search of Lost Timewas officially published in full. During his lifetime, Proust only had time to publish the first four volumes:Swann's side(1913),Under the shadow of young girls in bloom(1919),Guermantes I side(1920),On the side of Guermantes II, Sodom and Gomorrbe(1921). Proust died in 1922..The last three episodes:The Imprisoned Girlpublished in 1923,Albertine, 1925 and the final episodeTime to find again, released in 1927. Of the 7 volumes in the seriesIn Search of Lost Time, volume 1, Swann's Side is considered the most difficult to read, because in M. Proust's intention it is considered asPreludefor general scoreFinding lost time.Swann's sidehad to shoulder a great responsibility like the “eldest child” in the family: it was the prelude to finding a common tone, it was also the author’s explanation of the reason he wrote as well as the most core issues of the book. Proust even had to spend his own money to print this book. “Eldest child” in the familyIn Search of Lost TimeIndeed, he suffered a lot of scandal and hardship, but as translator Dang Thi Hanh confided, "in terms of literary value, especially in terms of many novel innovations”, many people still consider it “the most valuable volume”. To understand more about the “unstable” fate of the first volume of the great French novel of the 20th century, we would like to cite here some opinions of two researchers considered “ranking” experts on Marcel Proust: Jean-Yves Tadié and Antoine Compagnon.

InMarcel Proust, The Cathedral of Time(Marcel Proust, La Cathédrale du temps) by Jean-Yves Tadié (Gallimard 1999), in sectionTestimony and documents(Themes and documentsThere are paragraphs with titlesThe author was most rejected in Paris, followed byFrom brutal attack to victory,Author Tadié said: “Everyone disliked Proust. The publishers were the first to raise the objections that would be used against him forever: long-winded, lacking in detail, depicting the world of high society. In short, a bore. It took a long time for Proust to achieve fame. On the Swann side he was only welcomed by close friends. On the contrary, In the Shadow of the Flower Girls[4]won the Goncourt Prize on December 10, 1919”. Elsewhere, Jean-Yves Tadié added: “People blame Marcel Proust for not structuring his work, for being a decadent, or a snob, distant from life, writing in the Bourget style but badly. About the bookSwan's side, Rachilde wrote in the newspaperMercure de France: “I began to read the book with great enthusiasm, and then at last I had to abandon it in horror, as one would refuse to take a sleeping pill.”. The press severely reviled Proust. Not only that, as soon as volume 2Under the shadow of young girlswas born, was awarded the Goncourt Prize, and there were also many reactions surrounding the award. The newspaperPopularwrite: "We veterans elected Dorgelès. Marcel Proust won the prize thanks to the gratitude of six people he had entertained.”. SheetDebate(Journal of Debate) then harsh: "A talent from the grave, with little connection to the tendencies of the new generation that often praises the beauty of fighting, the qualities of light”.

French printSwann's side(Gallimard, Poche, 1992) annotated and introduced by Antoine Compagnon also points out many things surrounding the book's publication. InPreface, A, Compagnon said that both Fasquelle and Gallimard publishers rejected the manuscript, Gallimard based on the comments of André Gide (who later Gide regretted), and Fasquelle based on the report of Jacques Madeleine, who was assigned to read and comment (J. Madeleine was the nickname of Jacques Normand whom Proust probably met in real life and ridiculed and mocked inThe weather and the days). Here is an excerpt from the report: “Having read through the seven hundred and twelve pages of manuscript (...) – after the great anguish of being lost in its unfathomable developments and the exasperation of never being able to emerge – one has no idea of ​​the problem. What is it all for? What does it all mean? Where does it all lead? – It is impossible to know anything! It is impossible to say anything..

The letter accompanying the manuscript explains something (Proust's letter to Fasquelle, accompanied by a typed manuscript - TH). But the reader of the book will probably not have this letter before his eyes. The letter confesses that in those seven hundred pages nothing happens, the action does not begin, or only begins in the last sixty pages, and in a way that no one who is not warned will notice. For the future character has just appeared there, and under an appearance that is the opposite of what he will later reveal. And how anyone will know this from him ... no one will guess!

The letter declares that the entire first part is merely a “preparation,” a “poetic autobiography.” For a volume longer than Zola’s longest novel, it is too much to be a mere preparation. And what is more disastrous is that this preparation prepares nothing, and, moreover, does not help to predict what the letter alone reveals. Even when informed by the letter, one cannot help but wonder: but what is the point of all this? But what does it have to do with anything? What is it? What is it all about? It is a very clear case of morbidness.”[5].

Aware of the difficulties that even the French publishing and research community had anticipated regarding readers' reactions to the first volume ofIn Search of Lost Timewas published in 1913, the Vietnamese translation team was very careful. As hard-working workers in teaching and research, since the early 80s of the last century, I know that all of them (Le Hong Sam, Dang Thi Hanh, Duong Tuong, Dang Anh Dao) had been exposed to French books and newspapers at L'Éspace Center, Hanoi. They had read and loved Proust, along with many other writers. At this time, around the masterpieceIn Search of Lost Timehas published many research works by French and foreign experts. Because of their love for Proust, they themselves have carefully read and thought. I also know three of the translators who have spent many months reading books at the Pedagogical University of Ulm, or the Mittérand library, not forgetting to visit many times the Museums and Memorial Houses of great writers. Along with a lifetime of working on "words", they must have enough "knowledge" and "Vietnamese ability" to translate a foreign literary work, no matter how "difficult" it is.Swann's sideMarcel Proust. Moreover, if one does not have “ten years abroad to be able to translate” a certain author’s work (as someone said), then how could great works in the world have been popularized in many countries as well as in Vietnam for so long (?).

Despite great efforts, as one translator in the group said: “It's a pity we couldn't translate it better". Leaving a few mistakes is reprehensible, but more importantly, they feel that few first translations can fully convey the “soul” of the work and the “voice” of Marcel Proust. A great French writer, who is also a “classy” translator (Yourcena) said: “The truth is that there are things that translation cannot express fully, while the art of translation is to not lose anything. So we can never be satisfied.”[6].

This explains why great works like Proust’s have been translated many times in countries around the world. So the door is still open to all those who love and have the heart to translate an author whose entire 7 volumes are called “The Novel - Mother of 20th Century French Literature”. It is a very worthwhile job.