Open Book Publishers
A Handbook of the Socialist Movement: Gorky’s Mother in Ethiopia
- Nikolay Steblin-Kamensky(author)
Chapter of: Translating Russian Literature in the Global Context(pp. 367–384)
Export Metadata
- ONIX 3.0
- ONIX 2.1
- CSV
- JSON
- OCLC KBART
- BibTeX
- CrossRef DOI depositCannot generate record: This work does not have any ISBNs
- MARC 21 RecordCannot generate record: MARC records are not available for chapters
- MARC 21 MarkupCannot generate record: MARC records are not available for chapters
- MARC 21 XMLCannot generate record: MARC records are not available for chapters
| Title | A Handbook of the Socialist Movement |
|---|---|
| Subtitle | Gorky’s Mother in Ethiopia |
| Contributor | Nikolay Steblin-Kamensky(author) |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.11647/obp.0340.21 |
| Landing page | https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0340/chapters/10.11647/obp.0340.21 |
| License | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
| Copyright | Nikolay Steblin-Kamensky |
| Publisher | Open Book Publishers |
| Published on | 2024-04-03 |
| Long abstract | This essay examines the Soviet project of literary translation into Amharic, testing its ostensibly egalitarian appeal against the USSR’s political goals. Firstly, I use a bibliographical index to overview the history of Soviet Amharic translation, demonstrating the statist nature of the project. Secondly, through a case study of the translation of Gorky’s Mother (1906), I analyze the limits of state control over a translation project. I conclude that, despite the literalistic mode of translation strictly imposed by the Soviet publisher, translators could adjust their work to transmit a particular message to his readership. Books, as cultural goods, are not only distinct from market commodities; they resist being reduced to political functions. Despite the state’s significant investment of resources, the USSR could not determine which books would become popular and domesticated in subaltern nations, and which would be rejected. |
| Page range | pp. 367–384 |
| Print length | 18 pages |
| Language | English (Original) |
Contributors
Nikolay Steblin-Kamensky
(author)Researcher at Peter the Great's Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography
Nikolay Steblin-Kamensky is a researcher at the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera), St Petersburg, Russia. He has an MA in Ethiopian Studies from St Petersburg State University and an MA in Anthropology from the European University in St Petersburg. His academic interests are migration studies and Amharic literature.