Ivan S. Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons” in the USA: First Impressions

The article considers the first translation of Ivan S. Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons&8j1; into English, made by the American diplomat Eugene Schuyler and published in the USA in 1867. The Preface reported that the translation was made from the original language, but there are reasons to doubt this. The article presents the opinions of American critics on this issue. In response to their reproaches, Schuyler admitted that he sometimes referred to the French translation published in 1863, but considered this acceptable, since it was carried out by Turgenev himself (together with Louis Viardot). A comparison of some fragments of the two translations allows us to conclude that Schuyler addressed the French version of the novel more often than the Russian one. This is also indicated by the transliteration of proper names, the tracing of some turns and the complete identity of the notes with the French version. Another problem raised in the article concerns the issue of the reception of “Fathers and Sons&8j1; in Schuyler’s translation by his compatriots. After the “Sketches of a Hunter” (a.k.a. “A Sportsman’s Sketches”), which were successful in the United States due to the relevance of the topic of slavery (serfdom) at that time, American readers expected to see urgent problems again in Turgenev’s new work. However, instead, what they thought was just a well-made text appeared before them. American critics appreciated the artistic merits of “Fathers and Sons”, but the realities of Russian life and the complex of problems set forth by the novel turned out to be quite alien to the American audience and did not strike a chord with them.