English Translators in 'International Literature' in the Early 1930s: Poetics of/and Biography

• In Event: Facts of Translation 1: Recovering Forgotten Episodes in the History of Translation

Abstract

One of characteristic features of International Literature journal as publication of the Comintern (The Communist International) was the number of immigrants to the Soviet Union on journal’s the editorial board and among its contributors—the fact that was both recognized and criticized by contemporaries. Analysis of available translators’ names (many translations were published unsigned) shows that the contributors to the English version of the magazine were mainly of British or American, rarely Irish origin; among them were people who had immigrated into the USSR, or were visiting the country. The paper presents a biographic commentary on the English translators of the first years of International Literature, and discusses general editorial approaches to translation, as well as the work of individual translators.

Author

• Elena Ostrovskaya, NRU Higher School of Economics (Russia)