Several versions of the world of Heinrich Heine’s “Die Lorelei”: a close reading of the first stanza

The aim of this study is to reveal the potential of meaning in different translations of the first stanza of “Die Lorelei”. The scientific novelty of the research lies in raising the question of the specific nature of the first stanza in G. Heine’s “Die Lorelei”, and in studying domestic translations of this stanza using the technique of slow reading. The multiplicity of translations of “Die Lorelei” into Russian allows us to pose a hermeneutic problem, in addressing which the translation versions of Viktor Shnejder (“An Ancient One Story”) and Lev Mey (“An Old Song Sounds”) are recognized as the most contrasting interpretations of the line “Ein Märchen aus alten Zeiten”. This difference demonstrates that in Shnejder’s version, the distance between Heine’s lyrical hero and the hero from Brentano’s legend of Lorelei is quite noticeable. In Lev Mey’s version, on the other hand, this difference is minimized, since the ambiguity of the word “song” is utilized, which is an important aspect when considering translational interpretations of the work. The results obtained show the significant role of the lyrical hero’s surprise for the interpretation of the work, which determines the intention of the first stanza; the difference in the names of the legend itself: “a fairy tale of old times”, “an ancient one story”, “an old song”, “an old fairy tale”, “an old, terrible fairy tale”, “a legend of distant years”. These options affect the perception of the text, reflect the translator’s approach, and reveal the potential of the meaning inherent in the original.