Both Are Primary: An "Author's Translation" Is a Creative Re-creation

Recently we have heard the "phenomenon of bilingualism," or, more simply put, of bilingual writers who translate their own works, being discussed with amazement, as though this were something new in the history of the universe. A few years ago Friendship Among Peoples [Druzhba narodov] presented a round-table discussion on this subject in two of its issues (1980, nos. 5 and 6), with comments by Anar, T. Besaev, A. Kim, V. Koz'ko, and Ch. Guseinov. There is no question that there is much of interest to be said on this subject and that the discussion has a practical basis. A practical basis in authors' translating their works from their native language into Russian, or, as it's sometimes called, their second native language. A practical basis here lies in authors who have a clearly expressed ethnic character writing in Russian without losing that non-Russian ethnic [natsional'nyi] character. Drutse, Sangi, Sanbaev, Ebanoidze, Farkhadi, Pulatov, Alimzhanov, Suleimenov, Lebrerekht, the Ibragimbekov brothers…....