Notes from Slavic Cataloging, Pt. 4

The books in languages I can almost understand make me want to do some sort of grand project, like Ezra Pound, who translated Chinese poetry without knowing Chinese, but extrapolating from the idea that the ideograms originate from visual representations of something. To pseudo-translate these Eastern European novels into something entirely different and new, only slightly connected to the original work. Start with what the first page might say, to my understanding, and go from there. Or just the title.

Here’s a good one in Slovenian. “Sanja in Samostan” I presume Sanja to be a person, and Samostan to be a place. But maybe Slovenian “in” isn’t equivalent to English “in.” Maybe it is equivalent to “and”, “or”, or “of.” Perhaps Sanja is a place, and Samostan a person. Or both people. Sanja and Samostan.

Сам [sam] means ‘self’ in Russian, and perhaps in Slovenian as well. Sanja is probably a short-name for Alexander, or Alexandra. Sanja and Samostan. Best friends since childhood. Samostan is a big fellow, strong and trusting. Sanja is the scrawny one who gets them into and out of trouble.

Then again, саня [sanya] also means ‘sleigh.’ The sleighride to Samostan. But Samostan sounds like a desert place, or a jagged mountain place, that would be hard to get to by sleigh…

Here’s another option: самостоятельный [samostoyatel’nyi] means independnt, self-reliant, literally “self-standing.” Sanja the Independent. It’s a political novel, about a dissident. Or it is satirical, a harshly ironic tale of a the young man who becomes part of The System, despite his belief in original thought. Or the independent sled. Sanja is actually the name of a factory, making sleds, and the tale is told to show how the people involved in sled-making fare with the fall of communism and the rise of independent business. Samostan is an allegorical location where all must be self-dependent, and no long rely upon the state to provide things like pensions for them.

[Ed. –The native speaker in my life informs me that саня [sanya] is rarely, if ever, used in the singular. It’s always сани [sani]. But he agrees with “samostan” bringing self-reliance to mind.]