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Etude critique des traductions en français d’un quatrain d’Omar Khayyâm

Etude critique des traductions en français d’un quatrain d’Omar Khayyâm. Saidi Bouroujeni, Sara; Dadvar, Elmira.
Plume 6 (2011) 13, pp. 127–142

In the XXe, translation is changing. Slowly, we go from language to speech, with text as unity. We are discovering the oral of literature, not like in theatre only. Intuitively, the greatest translators have ever known it. We discover that the translation of a literal text must do what a literal text do through its prosody, its rhythm, its significance, such as o kind of individualization, a kind of form-topic that radically move the precepts of transparency and faithfulness of the traditional theory. As part of our doctorate thesis Reception of the quatrains of Omar Khayyam in France (XIX-XXIe centuries), because of failure to analyze all the quatrains, we propose to compare the translations of one of the high frequently translated robâ’i or quatrain in most of the French translations of the Quatrains.

Gilbert Lazard, translator of Omar Khayyam

Gilbert Lazard, translator of Omar Khayyam. Mohammad Ziar.
Faits de Langues 38 (2011), pp. 97-102.

Summary

Besides his Grammar of Contemporary Persian (1957) and French-Persian Dictionary (1990) Gilbert Lazard is also the translator of twelve books, including One Hundred and One Quatrains of Omar Khayyam (1994) where he tried to translate robaïat from the great Persian poet and philosopher, a translation more consistent with the taste of French readers and francophones. Obviously Gilbert Lazard has read but did not like many of the translations of Omar Khayyam’s quatrains done before him, finding them too solemn, which according to him, would not accord very well with robâï lightness and flexibility. So that’s why he decided that a new poetic translation would be better than those of Jean-Baptiste Nicolas: The quatrains of Omar Kheyyam, (1867), Charles Grolleau: The quatrains of Omar Kheyyam (1902), Claude Anet: Robais 144, (1920), Franz Toussaint (1924), Arthur Guy: The Robaï Kheyyam Omer (1935), P. Seghers: Omar Khayyam, his life and his quatrains, (1982), Mostafa Farzaneh and Jean Malapate: Cats of Omar Khayyam) (1993) … We, therefore, propose that some of these translations as well as One Hundred and one Quatrains be compared with the original text to see the strength of each and examine the quality of Gilbert Lazard’s translation.

Translating Metaphor and Simile from Persian to English: A Case Study of Khayyam‘s Quatrains

Translating Metaphor and Simile from Persian to English: A Case Study of Khayyam‘s Quatrains. Morteza Zohdi ; Ali Asghar Rostami Saeedi.
About Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 1 (2011) 9 (Sept.), pp. 1122-1138.

Summary

Metaphor and simile are two figures of speech which make comparison between two things. These two figures of speech are widely used by writers and poets in their literary works and Persian poets are no exception. Metaphor and simile often create problem for translators. These problems are even more complicated in poetry due to its compactness and its obligation to preserve the sound effects. This research intends to identify the most accurate translation made of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in translating its metaphors and similes. Khayyam is a well-known poet in the west and certainly the most famous one. This fame is due to the translation of his Rubaiyat by the Victorian poet Edward FitzGerald. But FitzGerald has not rendered an accurate translation and has done a more or less a free translation. In his translation, many of the verses are paraphrased, and some of them cannot be confidently traced to any of Khayyam’s quatrains at all. Other translators also have translated Rubaiyat. This study investigates two translations of Rubaiyat (i.e. FitzGerald and Arberry) with regard to similes and metaphors.

Omar Khayyam: much more than a poet

Omar Khayyam: much more than a poet. Robert Green.
Montgomery College Student Journal of Science and Mathematics 1 (2002) (Sept.)

Omar Khayyam, although well known for his poetry, was also an accomplished mathematician, scientist, astronomer, and philosopher. In fact, his contributions include the Jaláli Calendar, astronomical tables, and contributions to mathematics, especially in Algebra. He wrote, “Maqalat fi al-Jabr al-Muqabila,” in this area of mathematics, which many claim provided great advancement in the field.

Gissing the ‘Omarian’ : Fin de siècle cult of Omar Khayyám and Gissing’s Born in Exile (1892)

Gissing the ‘Omarian’ : Fin de siècle cult of Omar Khayyám and Gissing’s Born in Exile (1892). Ayaka Komiya.
Hiyoshi Bulletin 41 (2002) p. 102-121

The year 1859 was made memorable in English literary history by the publication of three books—Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species, Samuel Smile’s Self-Help, and Edward FitzGerald’s The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyám. Although each of these three books is important in its own way, it is FitzGerald’s Omar Khayyám that bears the most importance to a study of George Gissing (1857-1903). Probably due to its extraordinaiy popularity, something that continues to this day, Omar Khayyám appears to have failed to attract attention as a serious work of art. However, its effect on contemporary literature was immense—so much so that its neglect is quite unwarranted. It is my aim here to remedy the present situation, at least in part, and to shed a new light on Gissing study by looking at the influence of Omar Khayyám on his works.

The Rubaiyat of Edward FitzOmar – Edward FitzGerald, translator of Omar Khayyam’s ‘The Rubaiyat’

The Rubaiyat of Edward FitzOmar – Edward FitzGerald, translator of Omar Khayyam’s ‘The Rubaiyat’. G. Sloan.
American Atheist Magazine (2002) (Winter)

Long ago, in the Protestant hinterlands of northeast Texas, four young infidels consecrated their bibulous souls to Omar Khayyám, the eleventh-century Persian astronomer, mathematician, and poet. Each Saturday night in an old Studebaker, we made a pilgrimage to Hugo, Oklahoma, the nearest wet town, to procure libations of Ripple wine. As we meandered homeward on isolated back roads, we swilled the “old familiar juice.” Between swigs, we recited quatrains from The Rubáiyát, the bible for apostate tipplers. The mellifluous verse articulated our cosmic incertitude, alienation, and melancholy yearning. It also lent a romantic aura to inebriation.