Transmitting Cultural Memory Through Children's Literature: Issues of Translation

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

This proposed roundtable will examine the complex dynamics of cultural memory transmission in translated children's literature in Russia, both past and present. Children's books serve as crucial vehicles for cultural heritage, embedding social norms, historical narratives, and collective identities that shape young readers' worldviews. When these texts cross linguistic and cultural boundaries through translation, significant challenges emerge in preserving their original cultural resonance while making them accessible to new audiences. Through comparative analysis of selected case studies spanning diverse cultural contexts, this roundtable intends to address key translation strategies that either facilitate or impede the transmission of cultural memory. The recent publication, 'Firefly in A Box: Anthology of Soviet Kid Lit,' edited by Anna Krushelnitskaya, and Dmitri Manin, will serve as an illustration. Particular attention will be given to treating culturally specific references, linguistic idiosyncrasies, and visual elements that carry implicit cultural knowledge. The discussion will focus on the particular tension between 'domestication' and 'foreignization' approaches, with implications for how young readers encounter cultural difference. The core of the discussion will be an issue of how we evaluate the cultural authenticity of translated children's texts while acknowledging the creative and educational value of thoughtful adaptation. The roundtable will bring together both children's literary theory specialists and translation practitioners engaged in the cross-cultural transmission of Russian children's literature.

Sub Unit

• Linguistics/Language Pedagogy/Translation

Chair

• Marina Balina, Illinois Wesleyan U

Roundtable Speakers

• Olga Bukhina, Independent Scholar

• Anna Krushelnitskaya, Independent Scholar & Writer

• Dmitri Manin, Independent Scholar & Translator