On Some Errors in the Translation into Azerbaijani of Dostoevsky’s Novel “Devils”

This article presents an attempt to assess the quality of the translation, to establish relations of adequacy and equivalence between the literary texts of the novel “Devils” by F. M. Dostoevsky in Russian and Azerbaijani. The novel was written and published in 1870–1872, but was translated into Azerbaijani only in 2011. When conducting a comparative analysis of texts, we encounter some inaccuracies and distortions of the original text. The literary text of Dostoevsky is differentiated by its polyphonism, ideology, unique characters, as well as space-time unity, idiostyle and poetics. It is important to observe the above-mentioned features of the original in translated texts. Comparing adequate parts in the original and translated texts, the author of the article points out some inaccuracies in the transmission of numerals. These inaccuracies in translation affect the intensity of novel’s events, which is undesirable. The article also points out the cases of incorrect transliteration of proper names (especially in stage directions), historical facts (in particular the name of the newspaper), which can mislead the reader. Inadequate rendering of personal pronouns, indicating the gender of the characters, contributes to an illogical perception of the events of the novel. The author of the article attributes some of the discovered inconsistencies to technical errors and omissions of the translator, and some to editorial inattention.