Two centuries of the Russian classics

2686-7494

IWL RAS

https://doi.org/10.22455/2686-7494-2026-8-2-414-433

Research Article

Articles

Fundamental Work by a Literary Scholar and Translator: French Translation of N. M. Karamzin’s “Letters of a Russian Traveler”

Kafanova

Olga B.

red@rusklassika.ru

25 06 2026

8 2 414 433

N. M. Karamzin Rodolphe Bodin translation scholarly apparatus historical significance reception

2026

This review is dedicated to the first complete French translation of N. M. Karamzin’s “Letters of a Russian Traveler.” It provides a comprehensive overview of the edition, published by the French literary scholar and translator, renowned specialist in 18th-century Russian literature and a Sorbonne professor, Rodolphe Bodin. The review examines the fundamental scholarly apparatus, including a multi- part Introduction of literary value, and 937 notes and comments by the translator. At the same time, the most representative fragments of the translation are analyzed, and their fidelity to the original is assessed. The introductory article raises a number of topical scholarly issues, including: the tradition of Russian travel in Europe, the historical and cultural significance of “Letters of a Russian Traveler,” and the reception of the work in Russia and the West. Of particular interest is the information presented on three previous French translations, little known or completely unknown in Russia. Bodin emerges as a first-class translator, the creator of the first faithful translation of the “Letters of a Russian Traveller” in France.

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