Translation and Soviet Nationalities Policy: The View from the Periphery
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46991/TSTP/2026.SI.3.011Keywords:
adequacy, anthologies, Armenian literature, druzhba narodov / friendship of Soviet peoples, interlinear translationsAbstract
The literature on translation in the Soviet Union has largely focused on the “center” — i.e., on state-sponsored policies and translation into Russian. This article seeks to address that imbalance by turning scholarly attention to how Soviet translation policy was experienced in the periphery, that is, in the various Soviet republics, a complex story long suppressed beneath the propagandistic veneer of druzhba narodov, or “friendship of Soviet peoples.” At the same time, this article aims to address the rather desultory treatment of translation in the now vast literature on Soviet nationalities policy and, more broadly, on Soviet coloniality, by examining the role of translation in both a practical sense, as a techne of communist internationalism, and in a metaphorical sense as symbolizing the Soviet state’s commitment to fostering greater mutual understanding and respect among its constituent peoples. These dual aims are then explored through the life of Armenian writer, editor, and translator Karen Mikaelian.
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