Authors

Discussion

Contemporary Russian fiction in English translation is frequently marketed and critically received through a political lens. Authors such as Ulitskaya, Shishkin and Sorokin, have found success in the UK and the US in part because of their dissident stance. When nationalist Zakhar Prilepin’s Sankya was published in English in 2014, it was largely due to the anti-Putin message it contained – one that its author believed in when he wrote it in 2006. Sankya’s reception was hampered by Prilepin’s nascent support for both Putin, and the war in Ukraine. 

In order to discuss the interplay between politics and contemporary Russian fiction, this paper will examine the translation strategies used in two politically charged novels: Prilepin’s protest novel Sankya, and Sorokin’s anti-Putin satire Day of the Oprichnik. It will explore the extent to which Prilepin’s controversial politics have been obscured through the translation process. It will also discuss whether Sorokin’s political critique might have been rendered more accessible to a Western audience by a simplified translation. While there is no suggestion that individual actors have consciously shaped the political aspects of these texts, the effect of these decisions on the English translations and their subsequent marketing and reception warrants close attention in such a politically aware corner of the publishing industry.