by Giulia Baselica
Besides being a poet and a writer, Borìs Pasternàk was a translator: from 1914 to 1954 he translated poetry and plays from various languages and cultures. His reflections on the relationship between a source text and its version in a different language are original and interesting, revolving around the complex and much-discussed concept of “fidelity”. His concise and essential Zametki perevdočika (Translator’s Notes) add an intense and enlightening page to the history of thought on translation.