Nation and translation
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Vitaly Chernetsky
Abstract
It has been argued that Ukraine stands out among Slavic/East European nations due to the extent to which literary translation has played a pivotal role in shaping the modern national identity. Although vernacular translation stood at the root of many national literary traditions, the case of Ukraine, as Maksym Strikha argues in his recent history of Ukrainian literary translation, differs from its neighbors due to the nation’s lengthy colonial status and the long-standing policy of bans and restrictions Russian imperial authorities promulgated against the use of the Ukrainian language. Building in part on the scholarly paradigms developed by Western scholars who bring translation studies into dialogue with postcolonial theory, the present article proceeds from a critical summary of Strikha’s narrative and its arguments to a discussion of the ways in which some of the leading contemporary Ukrainian authors (among them Yuri Andrukhovych, Volodymyr Dibrova, Oksana Zabuzhko, and Andrii Bondar) combine their activities as writers and literary translators, striving to take Ukrainian culture in a new direction in the context of postcolonial independence and engagement with the cultural aspects of globalization.
Abstract
It has been argued that Ukraine stands out among Slavic/East European nations due to the extent to which literary translation has played a pivotal role in shaping the modern national identity. Although vernacular translation stood at the root of many national literary traditions, the case of Ukraine, as Maksym Strikha argues in his recent history of Ukrainian literary translation, differs from its neighbors due to the nation’s lengthy colonial status and the long-standing policy of bans and restrictions Russian imperial authorities promulgated against the use of the Ukrainian language. Building in part on the scholarly paradigms developed by Western scholars who bring translation studies into dialogue with postcolonial theory, the present article proceeds from a critical summary of Strikha’s narrative and its arguments to a discussion of the ways in which some of the leading contemporary Ukrainian authors (among them Yuri Andrukhovych, Volodymyr Dibrova, Oksana Zabuzhko, and Andrii Bondar) combine their activities as writers and literary translators, striving to take Ukrainian culture in a new direction in the context of postcolonial independence and engagement with the cultural aspects of globalization.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Notes on contributors ix
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Contexts
- Shifting contexts 19
- Nation and translation 33
- Vasilii Zhukovskii as translator and the protean Russian nation 55
- Romania as Europe’s translator 79
- Translating India, constructing self 97
- The water of life 117
- Translation trouble 137
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Part II. Subtexts
- Between the lines 149
- Translation theory and cold war politics 171
- The poetics and politics of Joseph Brodsky as a Russian poet-translator 187
- Squandered opportunities 205
- Meaningful absences 219
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Part III. Pretexts
- Translated by Goblin 235
- “No text is an island” 249
- Russian dystopia in exile 265
- Between cosmopolitanism and hermeticism 277
- The other polysystem 295
- Translation as condition and theme in Milan Kundera’s novels 317
- Index 323
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Notes on contributors ix
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Contexts
- Shifting contexts 19
- Nation and translation 33
- Vasilii Zhukovskii as translator and the protean Russian nation 55
- Romania as Europe’s translator 79
- Translating India, constructing self 97
- The water of life 117
- Translation trouble 137
-
Part II. Subtexts
- Between the lines 149
- Translation theory and cold war politics 171
- The poetics and politics of Joseph Brodsky as a Russian poet-translator 187
- Squandered opportunities 205
- Meaningful absences 219
-
Part III. Pretexts
- Translated by Goblin 235
- “No text is an island” 249
- Russian dystopia in exile 265
- Between cosmopolitanism and hermeticism 277
- The other polysystem 295
- Translation as condition and theme in Milan Kundera’s novels 317
- Index 323
