Translation In Russian Contexts

This volume represents the first large-scale effort to address topics of translation in Russian contexts across the disciplinary boundaries of Slavic Studies and Translation Studies, thus opening up new perspectives for both fields. Leading scholars from Eastern and Western Europe offer a comprehensive overview of Russian translation history examining a variety of domains, including literature, philosophy and religion. Divided into three parts, this book highlights Russian contributions to translation theory and demonstrates how theoretical perspectives developed within the field help conceptualize relevant problems in cultural context in pre-Soviet, Soviet, and post-Soviet Russia. This transdisciplinary volume is a valuable addition to an under-researched area of translation studies and will appeal to a broad audience of scholars and students across the fields of Translation Studies, Slavic Studies, and Russian and Soviet history. Chapter 1 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315305356.

This volume presents Eastern Europe and Russia as a distinctive translation zone, despite significant internal differences in language, religion and history. The persistence of large multilingual empires, which produced bilingual and even polyglot readers, the shared experience of “belated modernity” and the longstanding practice of repressive censorship produced an incredibly vibrant, profoundly politicized, and highly visible culture of translation throughout the region as a whole. The individual contributors to this volume examine diverse manifestations of this shared translation culture from the Romantic Age to the present day, revealing literary translation to be at times an embarrassing reminder of the region’s cultural marginalization and reliance on the West and at other times a mode of resistance and a metaphor for cultural supercession. This volume demonstrates the relevance of this region to the current scholarship on alternative translation traditions and exposes some of the Western assumptions that have left the region underrepresented in the field of Translation Studies.

Failure to consider the contexts of a text is often responsible for the most serious mistakes in translation. Contexts need to be understood as influencing all structural levels of a text: phonological, lexical, grammatical, and historical. This work seeks to assist in understanding contexts.

Translating Russian Literature in the Global Context examines the translation and reception of Russian literature as a world-wide process. This volume aims to provoke new debate about the continued currency of Russian literature as symbolic capital for international readers, in particular for nations seeking to create or consolidate cultural and political leverage in the so-called 'World Republic of Letters'. It also seeks to examine and contrast the mechanisms of the translation and uses of Russian literature across the globe. This collection presents academic essays, grouped according to geographical location, by thirty-seven international scholars. Collectively, their expertise encompasses the global reception of Russian literature in Europe, the Former Soviet Republics, Africa, the Americas, and Asia. Their scholarship concentrates on two fundamental research areas: firstly, constructing a historical survey of the translation, publication, distribution and reception of Russian literature, or of one or more specific Russophone authors, in a given nation, language, or region; and secondly, outlining a socio-cultural microhistory of how a specific, highly influential local writer, genre, or literary group within the target culture has translated, transmitted, or adapted aspects of Russian literature in their own literary production. Each section is prefaced with a short essay by the co-editors, surveying the history of the reception of Russian literature in the given region. Considered as a whole, these chapters offer a wholly new overview of the extent and intercultural penetration of Russian and Soviet literary soft power during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This volume will open up Slavonic Translation Studies for the general reader, the student of Comparative Literature, and the academic scholar alike.

Launched in 1950, Penguin’s Russian Classics quickly progressed to include translations of many great works of Russian literature and the series came to be regarded by readers, both academic and general, as the de facto provider of classic Russian literature in English translation, the legacy of which reputation resonates right up to the present day. Through an analysis of the individuals involved, their agendas, and their socio-cultural context, this book, based on extensive original research, examines how Penguin’s decisions and practices when translating and publishing the series played a significant role in deciding how Russian literature would be produced and marketed in English translation. As such the book represents a major contribution to Translation Studies, to the study of Russian literature, to book history and to the history of publishing.

This volume presents Eastern Europe and Russia as a distinctive translation zone, despite significant internal differences in language, religion and history. The persistence of large multilingual empires, which produced bilingual and even polyglot readers, the shared experience of "belated modernity and the longstanding practice of repressive censorship produced an incredibly vibrant, profoundly politicized, and highly visible culture of translation throughout the region as a whole. The individual contributors to this volume examine diverse manifestations of this shared translation culture from the Romantic Age to the present day, revealing literary translation to be at times an embarrassing reminder of the region s cultural marginalization and reliance on the West and at other times a mode of resistance and a metaphor for cultural supercession. This volume demonstrates the relevance of this region to the current scholarship on alternative translation traditions and exposes some of the Western assumptions that have left the region underrepresented in the field of Translation Studies."

This text provides Russian-English translators with essential tools needed to improve their translation skills. This practical, hands-on book is suited for anyone involved in Russian-English translation, including professional translators, interpreters, and advanced students. Author Natalia Strelkova imparts over 35 years of experience as a translator and editor, with an emphasis on translating journalistic idiom. A focus on the conversational Russian of everyday life -- plus dozens of examples and practice exercises -- prepare the user for the day-to-day work of translating and editing. Russian is the most widely-spoken Slavic language, and its 280 million speakers make it the fifth most-spoken language in the world. Seven chapters cover topics such as: The Translation Process What is Accuracy? How Professionals Maneuver around Difficulties Achieving Readability Notes on Everyday Russian Culture

Contexts in Translating is designed to help translators understand the varieties of contexts and their importance for understanding a text and reproducing the meaning in another language. The contexts include the historical setting of writing a text, the cultural components that make a text unique, the types of audiences for which the translation is intended, and the most efficient and effective ways of producing a satisfactory representation of the source-language text. The structural levels of language are described, and the principal features of text organization are also explained. In addition, the main features of various books on translation are outlined, and a chapter on basic theories of translation is followed by a selective bibliography.