Russian dystopia in exile
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Natalia Olshanskaya
Abstract
This chapter describes how two Russian dystopian novels, Evgenii Zamiatin’s We (1921) and Vladimir Voinovich’s Moscow 2042 (1987) reached their readers through translations. The analysis centers on similarities and differences in the presentation of the dystopian world in modern and post-modern discourses and their translations into English. The author argues that dystopia, a genre well established in the Western literary tradition, encounters many more difficulties in reaching the readership of the target culture in its postmodern form.
Abstract
This chapter describes how two Russian dystopian novels, Evgenii Zamiatin’s We (1921) and Vladimir Voinovich’s Moscow 2042 (1987) reached their readers through translations. The analysis centers on similarities and differences in the presentation of the dystopian world in modern and post-modern discourses and their translations into English. The author argues that dystopia, a genre well established in the Western literary tradition, encounters many more difficulties in reaching the readership of the target culture in its postmodern form.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Notes on contributors ix
- Introduction 1
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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
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- 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