Un caso di ‘traduzione estrema’: Il palindromo

This article opens with a brief overview of the form and meaning of the palindrome in literature, mathematics and biology. It then focuses on the revival of the palindrome by the Futurist poet Khlebnikov, who in 1912 composed a short poem consisting of palindromes and who later wrote a long poem entirely in palindromic verses devoted to the legendary historical figure of Stenka Razin. The palindrome is a rhetorical device that means more than a mere verbal game in Khlebnikov’s poetics. It reflects his conception of the word as a magic and cosmogonic power which can transform and recreate the world. The palindrome is also a figure suitable for the expression of a time of troubles and revolutions. In the article I discuss the problem of the translation of the palindrome as a type of “extreme” translation (Nasi 2015). In particular, two translations of Khlebnikov’s first palindromic poem Pereverten’ are analysed. Kern (1976) approaches the palindrome translating into English the semantics of the single words and ignoring its palindromic structure. The second instance is the translation into German by Oskar Pastior, who decides to “translate” the device itself of the palindrome. This is an exampe of “extreme” translation. Pastior re-writes the text à la Khlebnikov, trying to be consistent with the underlying semantics and themes of the original text.