What kind of animal is Bagheera in Mowgli? On the issue that Bagheera is a male character in the original
To native translators and everyone interested in translation problems
Just on Thursday at a seminar on art theory. translation with prof. Modestov examined my comparative analysis of various translations of Winnie the Pooh. The question was discussed whether Zakhoder had the right to turn Owl, which is “he” in the original, into a female Owl. But, at least in part, the reason for the editing is precisely Bagheera’s gender change.] (in the translation by Rudnev and Mikhailova - Sych, by analogy with "lives alone like an owl"). They decided that he had, since the background perception of the Russian reader is influenced by the memory of folk tales, in which the Owl is a frequent character, but the Owl does not evoke any cultural associations.
Today I go to the LJ of Andrei Vasilevsky, editor-in-chief of Novy Mir, and immediately come across Eliferova’s article “Baghira said...”. It describes precisely the “transformations” of Milnov’s Owl. I think those interested can read for themselves: magazines.russ.ru/voplit/2009/2/eli12.html
I was more interested in the question of Bagheera's gender from Mowgli.
The practice of ignoring the author's gender identification of a character and relying instead on the literal Russian translation of his name in some cases leads to anecdotal distortions of perception. The most curious example is Bagheera from Kipling’s “The Jungle Book”. The short stories about Mowgli, translated by N. Daruzes, were at one time extracted from the collection and published in a separate cycle as “The Book of Mowgli.” Such an editorial decision may be controversial, but as an adaptation for children it has the right to exist (although “The Jungle Book” as a whole was also written by Kipling, if not for children, then for youth - it is no coincidence that the story about Mowgli’s marriage, mentioned in one of the short stories of “The Jungle Book” as a “story for big ones”). A much more ill-conceived decision was to change the gender of Bagheera, who in the original, alas, was male. What the vast majority of Russians, who are so fond of this character, do not suspect.
In general, the name Bageerah is masculine. Much more often it is found in the form “Bagir” (including among some peoples of Russia). In the original, the image of Bagheera is completely unambiguous - he is a warrior hero, equipped with an aura of romantic oriental flavor. He is contrasted with Shere Khan as a noble hero versus a robber. The model of behavior of the aristocratic horseman fits both his initiative to reconcile the warring parties with the help of a ransom for Mowgli, and his retrospectively told story about captivity and escape (the latter is the topos of Orientalist literature). The relationship between Bagheera and Mowgli in the original is a relationship of male friendship, and not at all motherhood/sonship. The transformation of Bagheera into a female makes Kipling's clear and transparent plot difficult to understand: why, for example, doubling maternal care - isn't the She-Wolf coping with the responsibilities of raising Mowgli? The true nature of the relationship between Bagheera and Shere Khan (hero - anti-hero) becomes obscured. Finally, with such an interpretation of the image of Bagheera, a number of fragments from the short story “Spring Run” are missing, which the translator is simply not able to cope with.
We are talking about one of the most beautiful lyrical images of the awakening of youthful sexuality in world literature. In N. Daruzes's translation, only vague hints remain from these parts of the text. One can, of course, assume that Soviet censorship played a role here, although it is surprising that a text that was quite suitable for Victorian teenagers could be considered unacceptable for Soviet ones. But, at least in part, the reason for the editing is precisely Bagheera's gender change. In the original, Bagheera is preparing for a date with a female, and the meaning of Mowgli’s question (is it appropriate for Bagheera to frolic and roll with his paws in the air?) is completely obvious: Mowgli accuses Bagheera of insufficiently courageous behavior. Mowgli also experiences boyish jealousy - because Bagheera, just in accordance with the song about Stenka Razin, “exchanged” military male friendship for a woman, and, without yet realizing it to himself, envy, since it turns out that Bagheera has something that he doesn’t have. In translation, it is difficult to extract any clear meaning from the dialogue between Mowgli and Bagheera, except that Mowgli is for some reason unhappy. The very development of events, as a result of the loss of several important fragments, lost its harmony and logic in “Spring Run”, since the semantic axis of the entire novel fell out: Mowgli believes that his fighting friends betrayed him, carried away by something, from his point of view, unworthy of men. Of course, with Bagheera’s female appearance, Mowgli’s jealousy changes vector, and the entire psychological drama takes on unintended bestiality tones - therefore, N. Daruzes’ attempt to minimize Kipling’s psychologism and eroticism by radically shortening the text is quite understandable.
But even the transformations that Kipling’s text underwent can be considered “an error within the normal range” in comparison with what happened to the image of Bagheera in Russian popular culture - especially after in the cartoon the panther acquired defiant femininity, speaking in a languid contralto and flirtatious manner stretching with almost every remark. In the minds of Russians, Bagheera is the standard of feminine sexuality. A Yandex query for the word “Bagheera” yielded about a million links, so I had to limit myself to viewing the first thirty. Among these thirty (not counting duplicate links): three beauty salons, two belly dance studios, one store selling belly dance costumes, one erotic massage parlor, and one use as a female online handle. Kipling would have been surprised.
(...)
If we consider the reasons why such a protracted misunderstanding occurred with Bagheera, then at the entrance we will again find the only somewhat thorough motivation: the grammatical gender of the Russian word “panther”. It has already been said that the means of overcoming gender difficulties is the correct selection of synonyms. A lot and often is said about the richness of the Russian language, but in practice they do not know how and do not want to use it. If Bagheera is male, then he is a leopard.
There is an erroneous popular belief that only the black variety of leopard is called a panther. This is not true. “Leopard” and “panther” are synonyms. The word “panther” is not currently a zoological term. In the 19th century, they tried to distinguish between two separate species - leopard and panther, but not by color, but by physique or habitat, and some zoologists even then considered these concepts synonymous. It is simply enough to call Bagheera a “black leopard” several times - and for greater belligerence and orientality, he could also be called a “black leopard,” since “leopard” is one of the common Russian names for a leopard in the old days, and the leopard with which Mtsyri fought, from a zoological point of view, he was a leopard.
The sad thing is that the translation by N. Daruzes (like the translation of “Winnie the Pooh” by B. Zakhoder) is actually very good and is perceived as canonical. In order to translate both Kipling and Milne anew, correcting gender misunderstandings, we need at least equally brilliant translators, otherwise their translations will certainly fail. As a maximum, these translators must be able to convince the reader that their translations are truly superior, since they will still be compared with Daruzes and Zakhoder, and most often in favor of the latter (there is such a thing as the inertia of the first impression). Carroll's translation space is much more flexible and democratic. In this regard, “Alice” was both unlucky (the absence of a canonical Russian text and any consensus between supporters of different translations) and lucky (openness to further improvement of translation practice).
Observations of gender shifts in Russian translations reveal an interesting picture: in all cases, without exception, known to the author of this article, the shift occurs in the same direction - a male character in translation turns into a female one. There is a temptation to interpret this trend as a kind of Soviet “political correctness” - the desire to dilute the male company with female images. But when analyzing each specific case, no special motivations are found behind it - only a mechanical approach to conveying the character’s name and the lack of reflection on gender as a special translation problem..."
It’s time for girls with a languidly stretching Bagheera on their avatars to think about what they want to say.)
Bagheera in Kipling's book about Mowgli is one of the key characters. This character gained great popularity among the reading public and became a prototype for the creation of new animated images. Without exaggeration, she can be called the most popular hero of the work, as she is distinguished by cunning, dexterity and a fair amount of humor.
Characteristics of the work
Kipling wrote his famous tale in 1894-1895, inspired by his life in India. His work reflected many oriental motifs of this country, ranging from the image of the mysterious and enigmatic jungle to the image of animals and, finally, the main character himself. In addition, on the pages of the text there are many references to the realities of Indian life, for example, there are references to rajahs, the fabulous riches of cities, and the life of the simple peasant population. In this context, Bagheera, the character who turned out to be the most colorful of all the other animals, becomes clearer. This beast is unthinkable outside the space of the wild Indian jungle, which is its native element. That is why the author did not describe her backstory outside the wild, limiting himself to putting into her mouth a story about her youth among people. This move is explained by the fact that this image is unthinkable outside the jungle, where it is revealed with particular completeness.
Image
Bagheera is a bright character in all respects and at the same time contradictory, which, however, is what makes her so interesting. In the original, this animal is male, but in the Russian translation and in the famous Soviet cartoon, this animal received a female gender. However, this did not spoil the image in any way: the drawing turned out wonderful, and the magnificent voice of the famous actress L. Kasatkina gave it additional charm. Bagheera is a character who is Mowgli's constant companion. While the bear Baloo is the boy's mentor, and his function is to clarify and explain everything to him, the panther, on the contrary, is full of secrets and mysteries. Her image is mysterious, and her words are sometimes even confusing. In this sense, she is the very personification of the jungle in the book, which is also mysterious and incomprehensible for the little hero.
Meaning
Bagheera is a character who has symbolic meaning. Translated, this name means “black tiger”, “panther”. In Eastern culture, it means a noble warrior, who is opposed to the main villain throughout the story. In this respect, she is the antagonist of Shere Khan, who hunts little Mowgli not so much in order to eat him, but out of principle itself. Bagheera is an ideological character: she opposes the insidious tiger also out of principle. She seems to be the only one who understands that sooner or later this human cub will destroy the main evil in the jungle. She is more perspicacious and far-sighted than the rest of the pack, who save the boy only out of sympathy and pity. The second important reference to eastern motifs is the conciliatory function that Bagheera performs at the beginning of the work, having managed, with the help of a ransom, to convince the flock of the need to save the life of the child.
Story
Bagheera is a panther who was born in captivity to a rajah. She was in a cage with her mother, and there was a mark on her fur from an iron chain. After her mother's death, she managed to break free. In the jungle, she was able to inspire the respect of all the inhabitants with her dexterity, cunning, cunning, resourcefulness, and also courage. No one knows anything about her past, and the fact that it is Mowgli who tells her story is significant.
Bagheera is a panther with a flexible mind, which makes him stand out among other animals in the forest. The Soviet cartoon shows that it was her idea to get the “red flower” (fire) and with its help defeat Shere Khan and save Akela. Her friendship with Mowgli is one of the most touching lines in the plot, but there are a number of nuances that need to be taken into account. In the original, their relationship was presented as male friendship, but in the film adaptations it acquired a tinge of maternal care.
Appearance
The description of Bagheera in the work says that she was a beautiful black panther with shiny silky fur. She is distinguished by extraordinary flexibility and dexterity, her movements are elegant and graceful, unlike, for example, the clumsy and slow Baloo. The Panther is fast and very dynamic. This beast can reach very high speeds thanks to its natural strength and remarkable endurance. In addition, Bagheera senses the smells and sounds of the jungle very well: her sensitivity makes her practically invulnerable. In this respect, she is very different from Mowgli's other friends. In addition, her entire appearance speaks of great intelligence and cunning, which makes her a strong ally and at the same time a dangerous adversary in the jungle. Therefore, most animals fear and respect Bagheera.
For a long time, Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera and other jungle inhabitants remain the favorite heroes of children from different countries. These characters often appeared in cartoons and illustrations in books. This magical world was created in which a boy raised by wild animals settled, the English writer Rudyard Kipling.
R. Kipling's childhood
The writer’s fate itself is worthy of books, because it is in no way inferior to his novels. Lockwood Kipling and his wife Alice were born and raised in England. It was there that they met at Rudyard Lake. However, then life decreed that they ended up in colonial India. Lockwood was in charge of the school, while Alice, meanwhile, took care of the housework and was the most active woman the locals knew. It was there, in India, that the future writer was born.
Lockwood Kipling instilled in his son the idea that you need to try everything in your life from your own experience and not be afraid of change. This made Rudyard a great fan of adventure and travel. The mysterious world of India, impenetrable jungles and wild animals inflamed the mind and inspired the creation of stories.
When the future writer was six years old, he and his sister went to his parents’ homeland to get an education there. He considered the next six years of his life to be a real horror. After the freedom of India, he found himself in the arms of prim England, where he was severely punished for any offense. Kipling then continued his studies at the Devon Military School. Memories of him were painted in much warmer colors. Then Rudyard was imbued with respect for order and military service. And it was there that his talent as a writer was first noticed.
The mature years of R. Kipling
After graduation, Kipling returned to India and got a job there working for a newspaper. Then he made a long journey, the final destination of which was again England. He decided to conquer the cold and inaccessible country. And he succeeded. And not only the country was conquered, but also the beautiful Caroline, who agreed to marry Kipling. She gave birth to the writer’s daughter Josephine, whom he dearly loved.
With the beginning of the Anglo-Boer War, a dark streak began in the writer’s life. His views as an imperialist earned him contempt from some. First, Kipling's uncle and sister fell ill, and then he and Josephine. The girl did not survive the disease. For a long time they were afraid to tell Kipling about this, knowing how the death of his beloved daughter would cripple him.
At the same time, the novel “Kim” was written, which ensured Kipling’s posthumous fame. For a long time the writer disappeared from the readers' sight. Some even believed that he died. However, he simply could not write anymore. After Josephine's death, he also had to endure the death of his son, who went missing.
The last work that Rudyard Kipling wrote was an autobiography. However, the writer did not have time to finish it. He died in 1936.
The history of the creation of the work "The Jungle Book"
Bagheera and Mowgli are loved by many children. It is with The Jungle Book that for many people their acquaintance with Kipling begins. For some, this is where the work ends. It was created for a long time and with great love. And in order to trace the history of its creation, you need to turn to the writer’s childhood.
When Kipling was still living in India, he had a nanny - a local woman. She taught him Hindi and told him old tales and myths that had lived for centuries. The nanny's stories, coupled with the mystery of the Indian world, had a great influence on the future writer.
Despite the world described in The Jungle Book, Bagheera, Mowgli, Baloo and other heroes were born in the USA. It was there that the writer began writing one of the most important works of his career. Despite the fact that he was brought up on myths, it is difficult to find a single one whose story would be accurately told in The Jungle Book. Rather, based on what was told and the writer’s own experiences, a new myth was created. And he was loved by people from all over the world. Especially for the reason that there were practically no books about India at that time. Especially such interesting ones.
Mowgli
One of the main characters of the two “Jungle Books” was a little boy. In his early years he found himself far from civilization, in the world of animals. He was sheltered by a family of wolves. Over the years, while Mowgli was growing up, all the animals got used to him and were not afraid of him at all. And the wolves began to consider the boy one of their pack. However, not everyone had such a peaceful thought.
Tiger Shere Khan, his accomplice Tabaqui and other smaller henchmen refused to accept the “human cub”. So Mowgli became a stumbling block in the jungle world.
Baloo the bear
Bagheera, Mowgli and Baloo became best friends. Among this trio, the bear was especially loved by the children.
Baloo is one of the old inhabitants of the jungle. For Mowgli, he became something of a father. No one knew The Jungle Book better than the old bear, so he was chosen to play the role of the one who would teach the rules to the boy. Baloo represents strength. He boldly stands up for his little ward every time he is in danger.
Kipling himself said that the name for the character was borrowed from Hindi. In the language, this word denoted several types of bears.
Bagheera, black panther
Baloo did not remain the only educator of the “human child”. Another faithful friend of the boy was a panther named Bagheera. It is believed that this character is the personification of love. And this is one of the few heroes whose story is known.
Bagheera did not like to talk about her past. Mowgli, however, inspired her trust. Therefore, one day she told him that she was born in the menagerie of a rich and influential rajah. For a long time she lived on a chain. But then Bagheera's mother died. And the panther plunged into the abyss of melancholy. The loneliness pressed so hard that Bagheera decided to escape. The attempt was successful. The jungle world has welcomed a new inhabitant. However, Shere Khan became imbued with dislike for Bagheera. The hostility worsened when a boy appeared in the animal world.
As Bagheera said, Mowgli was the only one who knew the full story of her life. Even Baloo had no idea that his friend was once on a chain. This hero of The Jungle Book is better acquainted with the human world than others. That’s why Mowgli will turn to her to decide where he wants to live. Bagheera told her pupil about that world. It was from her that the boy learned about the “red flower”, which even Shere Khan was afraid of.
For many, the main question remains who the panther Bagheera is. Boy or girl? In fact, Kipling intended Bagheera to be a male representative. However, in Russian the word “panther” is feminine. That's why Bagheera became a woman. The same metamorphosis occurred with the hero in Poland.
Bagheera, Mowgli and Baloo, their comrades and enemies, not only open up the world of mysterious India, but also prepare children for life in the human world. Instructive and interesting tales will be read and reread for a long time.
Bagheera is a panther boy, according to the 1894 book, based on which all the films and cartoons were made. However, when translating Rudyard Kipling’s collection of stories “The Jungle Book,” Russian translators made a mistake and mistook the name “Bagheera” for a woman’s name. Although for me Bagheera looks better as a girl. In the Soviet cartoon she looks interesting, mysterious, wise, which cannot be said about the American version of Bagheera.
The American version of The Jungle Book and the Soviet one came out almost simultaneously, so everyone involuntarily began to compare them. The Soviet cartoon is the most iconic among all the film adaptations of Mowgli. The authors of the cartoon practically did not change the plot and characters, with the exception of an error in translation with the bagheera. In all other versions of films and cartoons, the authors changed the characters and plot to their taste, and some of the characters in the book were not added to the cartoon at all.
It’s also a pity that in the American version, only Sharkhan was left out of the book’s antagonists; the Indian cobra Nag was a very interesting character.
Kaa in the book is Mowgli's friend, he is very old and wise.
In the Soviet version of the cartoon, we were most reliably presented with his image, which is not at all different from the original. Throughout the cartoon, he gives advice to Mowgli, helps him out in difficult situations and is perhaps the wisest inhabitant of the jungle.
In the American version of the cartoon, we were presented with Kaa in a completely opposite image: a weak-minded, young, absent-minded python who dreams of eating Mowgli.
The same can be said about all the other cartoon characters; in the American version, even Baloo can be equated to a negative character, since he teaches Mowgli more bad things than good things and uses him to his advantage (so that he climbs trees and collects fruits, gets honey risking your own life, etc.). In the Soviet cartoon, all the characters were taken from the book without changes, so all the positive characters remained as such, including Baloo in the Soviet version who acts as a wise old bear.
In 2003, the cartoon was restored. It has become more colorful compared to the Soviet version, and the sound has also become better quality.
1. In the original novel by R. Kipling “The Jungle Book”, the black panther Bagheera (Bageerah) is a noble oriental hero-warrior - the antipode of Shere Khan.
However, Soviet translators were unable to find an equivalent in Russian for the word “panther” in the masculine gender and made Bagheera a woman.
The fact of the existence of the black leopard was apparently unknown to them.
2. The same story happened with another Kipling character - the Cat, who walks by himself.
In the Russian consciousness, this is a Cat that walks by itself - a symbol of a woman’s independence.
But it turns out that Kipling believed that it was not women who walked on their own, but men.
In the English text you can see that they write about the character He did.
3. We all know the novel “Dracula” (by the way, it was he who added to the popularity of the story about the vampire count). Google knows that its author is Bram Stoker (pictured).
“The Sorrow of Satan” was written by a woman, Maria Corelli (pictured below). Actually, “Dracula” is also attributed to her. What's the catch?
4. For some time it was even believed that Maria Corelli (pictured) and Bram Stoker were the same person.
But there is a more likely version - unscrupulous Russian publishers confused the author, thinking that since the novel was written in a vampire style, it was Stoker.
For some reason, no one has corrected the error since then. What if it’s not a mistake, but a great hoax?
5. We all remember the owl with glasses who diligently wrote an inscription on a pot in the Russian cartoon “Winnie the Pooh and that’s it, that’s it, that’s it.” Did Disney's eagle owl confuse you?
So, Russian translators could not cope with an adequate translation of the word owl (owl) and simply changed the gender of the animal.
Along with this, the whole meaning of the character was lost. Since the Owl of the author of the book about Winnie the Pooh A. Milne is a little boy - a bore and a know-it-all.
In Milne's time, boys' society was so distinctive and closed that the appearance of girls in it can hardly be imagined.
6. When asked who wrote the romance “The Shaggy Bumblebee” from the film “Cruel Romance,” at worst the answer is Mikhalkov, and in the best case, the gypsies.
7. "Elementary, Watson!" - Vasily Livanov said, but Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never wrote.
This phrase was invented by actor Livanov on the set, which added charm to his image, but violated historical justice.
"Elementary Watson!" is present only in the Russian film version of the story about the famous detective.
8. Remember, when Alice came to the Mad Tea Party, the March Hare and the Hatter were holding a certain Dormouse by the arms, periodically swearing at her and kicking her in the sides.
In the Russian version, Sonya is a woman. But is it really possible to imagine that in Carroll’s times ladies would have been treated like this? Of course not.
Sonya is a man. Just like the animal, the dormouse is male and female. The femininity of the name Sonya is not an indicator.
