The craft and commerce of literary translation from Russian — the major figures, their methods, and the argument that will not end.
6 pieces in this section · every section
A decades-long dispute over the most prominent translation partnership in Russian literature turns on three specific charges — and on what the passages themselves reveal.
Garnett translated roughly seventy volumes of Russian literature into English between 1892 and 1934 — this piece examines the choices that became defaults and the passages that later translators went back to correct.
What the translator does
Robert Chandler's translation work on Andrei Platonov and Vasily Grossman — the specific problems each writer posed and the published solutions, drawing on Chandler's own notes and introductions.
What the translator does
Marian Schwartz and Oliver Ready have both translated major Russian prose into English — and their working principles point in opposite directions.
What the translator does
The PEN/Heim Translation Fund awards grants to translators working from any language into English — and Russian has been a consistent source language since the fund launched in 2003.
What the translator does
A new English version of a canonical Russian novel is not a replacement — it is an argument, made line by line.
What the translator does