Translation and totalitarianism: the case of Soviet Estonia

Monticelli, Daniele; Lange, Anne

doi:10.1080/13556509.2014.899096

Cited by 16 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The loosening of ideological pressure from the Party seemed to set cultural agents free to develop into the new leading force, ushering in a "second cultural revolution" (Buchli 1999:137). In the field of literary translation, the Thaw coincided with a boom in foreign literature (Monticelli and Lange 2014) and a mitigation of the censorship system, consequently affording editors and translators more space for negotiation (Sherry 2015;Monticelli 2020). While the renewed impulse came from the centre this time, it had a more far reaching effect on the periphery of the Soviet empire, as our analysis of the Estonian translation of Cipollino will demonstrate.…”

Section: Daniele Monticellimentioning

confidence: 87%

Unsettling Translation

Baker¹

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This collection engages with translation and interpreting from a diverse but complementary range of perspectives, in dialogue with the seminal work of Theo Hermans. A foundational figure in the field, Hermans's scholarly engagement with translation spans several key areas, including history of translation, metaphor, norms, ethics, ideology, methodology, and the critical reconceptualization of the positioning of the translator and of translation itself as a social and hermeneutic practice. Those he has mentored or inspired through his lectures and pioneering publications over the years are now household names in the field, with many represented in this volume. They come together here both to critically re-examine translation as a social, political and conceptual site of negotiation and to celebrate his contributions to the field.The volume opens with an extended introduction and personal tribute by the editor, which situates Hermans's work within the broader development of critical thinking about translation from the 1970s onward. This is followed by five parts, each addressing a theme that has been broadly taken up by Theo Hermans in his own work: translational epistemologies; historicizing translation; performing translation; centres and peripheries; and digital encounters.This is important reading for translation scholars, researchers and advanced students on courses covering key trends and theories in translation studies, and those engaging with the history of the discipline.The rather smooth, unruffled picture of translation that I have just painted has an 'other' to it, a more unsettling but also a much more interesting and intriguing side. The smooth, unruffled picture may be part of the conventional perception and self-presentation of translation, but it papers over the cracks. I want to try and poke my finger into at least some of these cracks. And the reason for doing so lies in the recognition that translation, for all its presumed secondariness, derives its force from the fact that it is still our only answer to, and our only escape from, Babel.

show abstract

Section: Daniele Monticellimentioning

confidence: 87%

Unsettling Translation

Baker¹

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The early Sovietization of Estonia relied on the forced introduction of the cultural patterns of socialist realism, in which translation from Soviet (mostly Russian) literature played a central role. 32 Peeter Torop has characterized the translations of the Russian literature as compulsory, whose aim was to contribute to assimilation. 33 However, beside contemporary works, many masterpieces of Russian classical literature of the 19 th century were first introduced to the Estonian readers during these years as well.…”

Section: A Statistical Overview Of the Translations Of Non-russian LImentioning

confidence: 99%

Translations of Non-Russian Soviet Literature in the Estonian Book Production (1940s-1980s)

Möldre¹

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper explores the dynamics of publishing of non-Russian Soviet literatures in Soviet Estonia, establishing the output of titles and the most popular source literatures. The analysis follows the position of Soviet national literatures during four periods in political history: the Stalinist years, the Thaw, Stagnation, and Perestroika. The study uses statistical yearbooks, bibliographies, archival material, as well as research literature as sources. The publishing of Soviet literature was strongly regulated by the publishing authorities and dependent on ideological directions. The analysis demonstrates that the proportion of the non-Russian Soviet literatures started to increase during the Thaw period, but the peak of its production was reached during the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s due to official pressure. The total number of source literatures was 49, demonstrating the diversity of translation production, although they were represented equally. The top source literatures were Latvian, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian. The interest of the literary circles and reading audiences in the translations was rather weak, although the top authors attracted the attention of the more intellectual segment of readers.

show abstract

“…So the point is that if a regime thinks the situation warrants it, it can control translation to the same extent as it chooses to control literature/books generally. That this is the case is borne out when we look at what happened in communist regimes such as the GDR (Thomson-Wohlgemuth 2006; or Estonia (Monticelli & Lange 2014). Here the entire production process was in the hands of state-owned structures: the publishing house, the printer, the distributer, and the bookseller were all state-owned, so it was practically impossible to publish a book that did not have state approval.…”

Section: Translation and Fascismmentioning

confidence: 99%

History and translation

Rundle

Rafael

2016

Benjamins Translation Library

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

My work has long focused on the historical relationship between language and power in imperial, national and post-colonial settings, primarily in the Philippines under Spanish, American and Republican regimes, as well as in post-9/11 United States. These concerns are reflected in my books: Contracting Colonialism (1988); White Love and Other Events in Filipino History (2000); The Promise of the Foreign (2005); and in my forthcoming book, Motherless Tongues: The Insurgency of Language amid Wars of Translation. In all cases, translation has provided me with ways to critically engage a range of historical phenomenon: Christian conversion, nationalist literature and revolution, popular theater, colonial census, war photography, digital technology, street slang, overseas workers, authoritarian politics, the "global wars on terror", among others. The role of translation in historical studiesVicente Rafael responds to questions (in italics) posed by Christopher Rundle. The role of translationAs a historian you are unusual in that translation plays a central role both in your research but also as a key concept in your thinking.I didn't start out doing Translation Studies. Rather, I stumbled upon the topic when I was doing research for my dissertation on the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. I was very interested then, as I still am, in doing something like a history from below.Nearly all of the scholarship on Spanish colonization, especially in the early modern period, was written using Spanish language sources, most especially missionary accounts. Rundle, Christopher & Vicente Rafael (2016) "History and translation. The event of language". In Border Crossings. Translation Studies and other disciplines, edited by Yves Gambier and Luc van Doorslaer. [Benjamins

show abstract

Translation and totalitarianism: the case of Soviet Estonia

Cited by 16 publications

References 6 publications

Unsettling Translation

Unsettling Translation

Translations of Non-Russian Soviet Literature in the Estonian Book Production (1940s-1980s)

History and translation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About