Four new classical and contemporary Russian literary works have been translated into Vietnamese, making them available for local readers.

The publications include Dau xanh tuoi tre (The raw youth) written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky; and the comedy in verse Kho vi tri tue (Woe from wit) written by Alexander Griboyedov, which satirises the society of post-Napoleonic Moscow.

Additionally, two contemporary short story collections by several Russian writers were also translated into Vietnamese. They are Kinh nghiem tinh ai (Love experience) and Doi canh (Wings).

The publication of the books is part of a long-term project, which has been jointly carried out since 2012, on translating literature from Russian into Vietnamese and vice versa, under the patronage of Russia’s President Putin, said Russian Ambassador to Vietnam Konstantin Vasilevich Vnukov at the book launching ceremony last week.

The project has been carried out by the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Hanoi, the Vietnam-Russia Literature Fund and well-known Vietnamese translators.

Translator Hoang Thuy Toan, director of the Vietnam-Russia Literature Fund emphasised that Russian literature has had a great influence on shaping the style of many Vietnamese writers.

“Russian culture has a lasting vitality in the hearts of the Vietnamese people. I believe that the cooperation in culture and literature will be the basis for the two countries to build and develop their partnership in many other fields,” he said.

“Russian playwright and poet Griboyedov’s works have been taught at universities in Vietnam for a very long time. The lessons have become easier for our students as they can read some of his works in Vietnamese. Late Vietnamese movie director Dinh Quang sang the praise of his comedy Woe from wit many times and wished that one day this comedy would be staged in Việt Nam. Now, there are many chances for his wish to become a reality,” he said.

Nguyen Chien, one of the translators of the books, hoped that many other young translators could help him and other older translators continue the translation of good Russian work.

“I have been teaching Russian literature for over 30 years at Hanoi University, and have translated hundreds of Russian works with my colleagues. I believe that human cooperation is the basis for partners to build strong relations in many other sectors. Russian literature has had strong influences in shaping the style of many Vietnamese authors,” he said.

VNA