Abstract

This article critically examines the translations of Alisher Navoi's ghazals and rubai into English by both Uzbek and foreign translators. The study employs a rigorous analysis to evaluate the achievements and shortcomings of these translations. Methodologically, it employs a comparative approach to highlight variations in linguistic nuances and cultural interpretations. The results shed light on the diverse approaches taken by translators, offering insights into the challenges faced and suggesting improvements for future endeavors. The implications of this research extend to the broader field of literary translation, emphasizing the importance of preserving the cultural and linguistic richness of Navoi's poetry in English renditions.

Highlights:

• Cross-cultural Examination: This study conducts a comprehensive analysis of Alisher Navoi's poetry translations into English by both Uzbek and foreign translators, emphasizing the cultural nuances embedded in the process.

• Translator Strategies: The article highlights diverse translation approaches, evaluating the achievements and shortcomings of English renditions of Navoi's ghazals and rubai, providing valuable insights for future translation endeavors.

• Preserving Literary Richness: Through a comparative method, the research underscores the importance of maintaining the cultural and linguistic richness of Navoi's poetry in English translations, contributing to the broader field of literary translation studies.

Keywords: 
Bilingual Dictionary, Translation, Ghazals, Rubai, Word Choice

Introduction

Hazrat Navoi's creative heritage continues to amaze the people of science not only in his time, but also in all periods until today. Navoi's creative heritage is studied with great interest not only in the East, but also in the West. In particular, Gulnoza Odilova cited the following points in the article "Navoi's Ghazals in America": "Harry Dick from Canada came to Uzbekistan, studied Alisher Navoi's work and translated his epic "Lisonu-t-tayr" into English. He describes Navoi as: "The gardener of the garden of the heart who can save the world from spiritual decline [1]."

It should be noted that the works of scientists such as Y. Parda, L. Kmetyuk, Q. Ma'murov play an important role in the translation of the great poet's works. Literary critic G. Odilova expressed the following thoughts about this in her article "Enthusiasm and Diligence is Required": "From Oman, published by them in English and German in 2000 The book "Ghazals, hikmats and examples from rubai" was one of the first serious steps in translating Navoi's works into foreign languages [2].

Literature Analyzes

Translations of Navoiʼs lyrical heritage into fireign language bu Uzbek and foreign scholars were used. Opinions of Uzbek Scientists were used for translations.

Method

Comparative-historical, linguistic, structural analysis methods were used to illuminate the research topic.

Result and Discussion

In addition, the book entitled "Twenty one Ghazals by Alisher Navoi" published by Cervena Barva Press, which consists of twenty one ghazals of Alisher Navoi, translated by the American literary scholar Denis Dely, is also an important step in the translation of Navoi's ghazals. Candidate of philological sciences, associate professor Gulnoza Odilova comments on this book:

"Although you can find only some of the meaning and numerous images in Denis Dely's translations, the translations are extremely readable, and most importantly, foreign fans of classical Eastern poetry are discovering Navoi. An example that proves the translator's skills:

Tulip fields blaze the face of my soul's fire,

Sunsets sear across the sky, touch the earth with fire.

In fact, the poet says: "What you see is not a field of tulips, it is a grass that fell from my heart to the world" and uses a high level of gulu. In the translation, "the lily has become brighter than my heart" and the lowest possible level of guluv is used.

In some cases, the translations were not completely successful, in particular, such a situation can be found in the translation of Navoi's famous ghazal "Black Eye..." by L. Kmetyuk. Literary scholars Sirojiddinov Sh. and Odilova G. from the comparative analysis of this translation with the original ghazal, we made the following general conclusions. In particular, unsuccessful places are manifested in the following: firstly, the lack of rhyme between stanzas; secondly, the absence of poetic arts in the translation (taking into account the peculiarity of poetic arts to the poetry of the East, it is natural that they are not found in the translation (Sirojiddinov Sh., Odilova G. note - author), thirdly, the words characteristic of the national color are omitted in the translation. has the opposite meaning.The translation of the first verse of the ghazal is as follows:

Come my dark eyed one come end show kindness,

Weave a nest for yourself, in the depth of my pupils.

Of course, the above verses are somewhat close to the original. But literary scholars Sirojiddinov Sh. And as Odilova G. noted, “in the translation of the seventh stanza of the ghazal, the mistake made in the choice of words led to the opposite understanding of the stanza:

“O my friend, should I suddenly die at the sight seeing of persirarion on your face…

Bath me in rose water and may I rest in a shroud made of rose petals.

The verse was interpreted by literary critic N. Jumakhoja as follows. In it, the poet reflected on the preservation of life and the inevitability of death. One melody of a lyrical hero in such a sad mood is the voice of his lover. The content of the first verse is expressed through the images of “face” and “sweat”, and the second verse is expressed through the images of “rose” and “petal”. A rose is a symbol of the sweat on a lover’s face, and a flower leaf is a symbol of the face. A lover in love dreams of a final escape from death to be bathed in a rose made of leather and wrapped in its rose face. In the English translation, the address to a friend is given with the prompt “O my friend”:

O my friend should I suddenly die at the sight seeing of perspiration on your face…

As we can see, through the use of the possessive pronoun “your”, the meaning was created as if a lover is telling him to fulfill his servitude after seeing the sweat on his friend’s face. Actually, when the poet says on his face, he meant the face of his lover. If the possessive pronoun “her” (for a woman) was used instead of the possessive pronoun “your” in the translation, the translation would reveal the meaning according to the original:

O my friend should I suddenly die seeing inspiration on her face…

The English translation of stanza 7, verse 2 is semantically consistent with the original, but if the words “rous water” and “rous petals” are explained, it helps to understand the meaning of the ghazal more clearly [3]."

We can find such achievements and shortcomings in the translations made by Uzbek translators. In particular, the talented translator Q. Ma’murov translated the rubai of Hazrat Navoi into English. Sh.Sirojiddinov and G.Odilova expressed the following points in the article “Analysis of Alisher Navoi’s Ruboiys” regarding the translations made by Murovrov: “The translation of Navoi’s radif ruboiy “O’pay” can also be evaluated as a Western slang of the Eastern style in terms of tone and sonority:

I said, holding by your chin your cheeks I kiss,

Licking your eyes with eyelids your brows I kiss,

Smelling your rosy cheeks your lips I kiss,

I you say: No, No, No, I kiss your feet.

The translation is so clear and understandable that the tone of Navoi is noticeable even in the English text. [ https://kh-davron.uz/kutubkhona/alisher-navoiy/alisher-navoiy-ruboiylari-tahlili.html .]

At the same time, we can also find an error related to the choice of words in Q. Ma’murov’s translations of the rubai:

I love you more than my soul, oh, my dear,

I love you more than all numbers, oh, my dear,

Loving anything can not be more than that,

I love you much more than that, oh, my dear.

The opinions of Sh.Sirojiddinov and G.Odilova about this: “The English translation of the rubai also has an Eastern tone. Such poems are not found in English lyrics. However, in the second verse of this rubai, the poet does not mean the exact number of numbers, but wants to say “I love stronger than any creature that can be counted.” Put it.

Verse 2 literally means “I love you more than any number, darling.”

There is no such thing as “love stronger than any number” in the English language. Therefore, Navoi does not use the phrase, which is very popular in foreign languages. Ruboiy would have been more successful if the translator had used the word "infinity" to mean that it is an unreachable infinity".Our conclusion from the above is that we can observe the following in English translations of Navoi's lyrical heritage:1. As a result of not using the equivalent of the word used in Navoi's lyrics in the translation, which fully reveals the poet's artistic intention, the verse or verse acquires a meaning contrary to its content;2. over-comprehension of a verse or stanza as a result of omission of some words and phrases in the translation;3. as a result of the non-interpretation of phrases, expressions, persons and events that are unique to the Uzbek mentality, a verse or verse becomes incomprehensible to a foreign reader;4. trying to preserve the meaning leads to distortion of tone, artistry, rhyme.Above, we witnessed the successes and shortcomings of foreign and Uzbek translators in translating Hazrat Navoi's ghazals and rubai into English. Literary scholars Sh. Sirojiddinov and G. Odilova noted, "...in order to avoid such shortcomings, it seems necessary to create bilingual explanatory dictionaries of Navoi's works. ...At the same time, in order to recreate the classic style and tone of Alisher Navoi's works in another language, the use of the dictionary of archaic words from the period parallel to Navoi's time will give effective results [4]." Also, in an interview with literary scholar Gulnoza Odilova, Navoi scholar Harry Dick mentions that he is working on "Annotated Dictionary of Old Uzbek-English [5]."

Conclusion

That's really good. New World Linguistics needs such a bilingual dictionary. However, in our opinion, such dictionaries should be prepared by Uzbek and English, and generally foreign translators and literary experts in cooperation and mutual exchange of ideas. Because the internal possibilities of the Uzbek and English languages, the different meanings of the words are known to the translators and literary experts of that language. In the process of creating a bilingual dictionary, we are in favor of citing the version of the word used in Navoi's work first, then the archaic version of the word used in the works of poets who created at the same time as Navoi, and then the alternative used today. Then the whole world will enjoy the treasure left by Navoi's genius.

References

1. G. Odilova, "Alisher Navoiy Gazaliyoti Amerikada," 2020. [Online]. Available: https://kh-davron.uz/kutubkhona/alisher-navoiy/gulnoza-odilova-alisher-navoiy-gazaliyoti-amerikada.html.
2. G. Odilova, "Enthusiasm and dedication are necessary," "Literature and Art" newspaper, February 7, 2014.
3. G. Odilova, "Beauty's birthday," "Literature and Art" newspaper, February 7, 2014.
4. B. T. Zayniev, "Ekspresi Gaya Rubiy Alisher Navoy Dalam Terjemahan," Kemajuan ilmu pengetahuan, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 668-673, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://ʼkh-davron.uz/kutubkhona/alisher-navoiy/alisher-navoiy-ruboiylari-tahlili.html.
5. Sh. Sirojiddinov and G. Odilova, "Black eye," "World Literature" magazine, 2013-4.