Teaching Oriental languages in St. Petersburg University in the 19th century: “Russian-Arabic Conversations” by Abdallah Kelzi and his translations of Krylov's fables
https://doi.org/10.31162/2618-9569-2023-16-3-537-561
Abstract
The article deals with the appendix to the publication "Russian-Arabic Conversations" by the teacher of Arabic and Turkish languages at the Oriental Faculty of St. Petersburg University, Abdallah (Fedor Il’ich) Kelzi (1819–1912). The appendix comprises ten fables by Ivan Andreevich Krylov (1769–1844) translated into Arabic. This is the first instance when his fables received a translation into Arabic. The Author shows that A. Kelzi’s choice of the source for translation was hardly accidental. The text of Krylov's fables easily falls to discrete “blocks”. These "blocks" were rather convenient for building new sentences and, therefore, for describing various situations. This fact enabled a student to save efforts while memorizing the Russian examples for translation and to concentrate on a deeper study of Arabic vocabulary and idioms by students. The vocabulary itself was also not artificial and chosen for the occasion: Krylov wrote in the living, folk language of the 19th century. The Arabic words and expressions, which A. Kelzi used, as well as the Arabic style of his translation, were also imitated. The study shows that A. Kelzi relied on the edition of the Arabic text of Luqman's Fables, published in France in 1850.
Keywords
Kelzi Abdallah (1819–1912),
Krylov Ivan Andreevich (1769–1844),
teaching,
Arabic,
fable,
St. Petersburg University
Supporting agencies: The authors sincerely thank Frantsuzov S. A. (Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg) and Nastich V. N. (Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow) for their comments, advice and assistance with providing photocopies of not readily available scholarly literature.
About the Authors
N. I. Serikoff
Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Nikolaj I. Serikoff - Cand. Sci. (History), Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Oriental Written Sources of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Moscow
Sh. R. Kashaf
Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Shаmil R. Kashaf - Master of Theology, Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of Central Asia, Caucasus and the Ural-Volga Region of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Moscow
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Review
For citations:
Serikoff N.I., Kashaf Sh.R. Teaching Oriental languages in St. Petersburg University in the 19th century: “Russian-Arabic Conversations” by Abdallah Kelzi and his translations of Krylov's fables. Minbar. Islamic Studies. 2023;16(3):537-561. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31162/2618-9569-2023-16-3-537-561
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