Dostoevsky’s Theology. An Incarnated Truth: Translating a Fantastic Story

Abstract

This article was first presented at the conference “Dostoevsky’s Theology” and it consists of the analysis of some deep theological meanings of “The dream of a ridiculous man” that must be preserved when translating the story. We drew our analysis following two concepts: the concept of istina and a more complex and difficult to define concept that takes form around the idiom vse ravno. We thus verified the hypothesis that through this story Dostoevsky aims at telling his reader something about his way of considering God or more precisely he speaks as a theologian uttering his own word about the incarnation of Truth. The translator needs listening to this author’s word to be able to make it audible for his/her reader too. Here the translator is considered to be first of all a guide and someone who passes to the reader the author’s message avoiding reductions as far as possible. The translation process, as well as the process of hermeneutical reading is not merely the experience of understanding and transforming the original text but also and at the same time the experience of transformation of the translator himself during the same process.

Keywords

• dostoevsky
• “the dream of a ridiculous man”
• translation
• italian translation
• truth
• theology
• christ