Contradictions of Soviet Internationalism: Translation Practices in Golosa molodykh and Tverskoi bulvar, 25

• In Event: Provincializing Internationalism: Periodicals, Publishers and Practices I: Translating

Abstract

In the late 1950s, the Gorky Literary Institute launched the literary journal Golosa molodykh (Voices of the Youth), later replaced by the annual almanac Tverskoi bulvar, 25. Both aimed to promote the friendship of the peoples and socialist internationalism by including translations from Soviet republics, oblasts, and krais, and socialist and socialist-leaning countries, fostering intercultural exchange. However, a closer look at the periodicals reveals contradictions in the Institute’s internationalist agenda. Students often preferred translating works by famous authors over those by their non-Russophone peers. As a result, non-Russophone students sometimes relied on instructors or older writers to translate their works into Russian. Even when Russophone students translated their peers’ works, the translations often carried a political agenda. One example is an Azerbaijani student’s poem criticizing a “rebellious” Polish classmate, which was later translated into Russian and published. This incident illustrates how the Institute’s internationalism was sometimes shaped by political demands rather than fostering solidarity. Through an analysis of Golosa molodykh and Tverskoi bulvar, 25 between 1958 and 1977, this paper explores how translation practices both reinforced and complicated the ideals of Soviet internationalism, revealing tensions between official rhetoric and local agency within the Soviet literary sphere.

Author

• Olga Nechaeva, U of Pennsylvania