PEREDELKINO / MOSCOW. In February, a meeting was held at the writer’s house in Peredelkino Anna Voronkova a workshop for Finnish language translators to hone their skills.
The writer’s village near Moscow has a legendary reputation in Russian literary history.
Among others, Nobel laureates have lived in Peredelkino Boris Pasternakremembered for his children’s poems Korney Chukovskythe master of Odesa short stories Isaac Babel and known for his songs Bulat Okudžava.
The environment of the gathering of translators was therefore inspiring. But in the background is the worry that there will be no use for the skills at least in the future.
– I went to a book fair in Helsinki in November. There, all the Finnish Agencies announced that they no longer sell rights to Russia at all, translator from St. Petersburg Ivan Prilezhaev told.
Now Priležajev is working on the final translation of the novel from Finnish to Russian.
– Unfortunately, there is no fiction coming out after that.
A native of St. Petersburg specializing in children’s literature Marina Kinnunen said that the number of works to be translated already fell last year. The reason was the lack of clarity about obtaining publishing rights.
– This break has been going on for a year and we translators are now practically out of work, Kinnunen said.
He hoped that the situation would improve sometime in the future.
– So that the language is not forgotten, we translate into the table drawer.
There would be demand. Marina Kinnunen has translated, among other things Mauri Kunnas and Heidi Viherjuuren works. He says that, for example, Kunnas’s book about Santa Claus and elves sold out in a month.
The freezing of grants also affects
Ivan Priležajev has worked as a translator and interpreter since the 90s. 15 years ago, he participated in a seminar on translating fiction organized by the Finnish Literature Export Center, FILI, and since then he has been translating fiction as well.
– It is done more for pleasure than for money, says Priležajev.
Translators’ fees are not particularly high. The grants awarded by FILI have therefore been of great importance. Now the grants to Russia are frozen.
– It has been officially said that there will be a break now. But that break will probably be forever, Prilezhajev said.
After Russia started its attack in February of last year, FILI decided to cease for the time being all activities that would lead to money traffic across the border between Finland and Russia.
FILI therefore does not grant new subsidies and does not pay subsidies already granted to Russian publishers. On the other hand, FILI promises that Russian translators can still apply for training.
Everyone is still welcome to apply for FILI’s cooperation projects, workshops and seminars.
– No one is discriminated against based on nationality, director of FILI Tiia Strandén told.
On the other hand, FILI’s policy that no money traffic is allowed across the border between Finland and Russia also affects this. Therefore, it is not possible, for example, to pay for trips for translators coming from Russia.
Marina Kinnunen said that she is very grateful for FILI’s support and hopes that the cooperation will continue sometime in the future.
– Of course, FILI has done a huge job and without its support, many publishing houses would not have published translations from Finnish, Kinnunen said.
– Finnish humor is very different from Russian. It is a risk to publish a book that may not be bought. All entrepreneurs are now afraid to take risks, he continued.
The sale of rights from Finland is frozen
So the general picture is that Finland is not selling rights to Russia now.
The Helsinki Literary Agency, founded by four Finnish publishing houses, decided immediately after the start of the Russian invasion that they would put things with Russia on hold.
– We decided that books cannot be sold there in this situation, says the literary agent Urpu Strellman from the Helsinki Literary Agency.
However, previously made agreements will be adhered to.
– When the names are on paper, the rights have been sold, the advances have been paid, i.e. the commitments of the contract have been fulfilled, the cooperation will continue, Strellman said.
Strellman says he understands that the situation is unfortunate for those Russian publishers who do not support the war.
The sale of the rights would practically collide with the fact that money traffic does not flow between Finland and Russia. Therefore, advance payments and royalties for book rights cannot be paid from Russia. Therefore, the sale of rights is impossible, unless you try to circumvent the sanctions by circulating money through other countries.
– This would certainly not even occur to Finnish operators, Strellman pointed out.
The line of Finnish publishing houses and agencies seems stricter than in some other EU countries.
Ivan Priležajev said that he heard from a German translator and publisher that German politics will continue to the old model.
Curator of translators’ workshops in Peredelkino Aleksandr Filippov-Chekhov is himself a German translator and editor-in-chief of the libra publishing house, which publishes German literature.
– I can say that our contacts with German publishing houses mostly continue. They are ready to sell rights in Russia. Possibly it is because we have a small publishing house, we have been cooperating for a long time and we are trusted, Filippov-Chekhov said.
He said that such cultural institutions as the German Goethe Institute and the Austrian Cultural Forum have continued to support Russian publishing houses and translators translating German literature.
There are still many agents in the EU and elsewhere in Europe who still sell rights to Russia despite the war and sanctions, says literary agent Urpu Strellman from the Helsinki Literary Agency.
– Apparently, it has not been thought of in such a way that taxes are paid for these books, which are used to finance the war.
He thinks that for geopolitical reasons, the policies are different in Western Europe than in Russia’s neighborhood and in the countries that were part of its historical sphere of influence.
In Western Europe, the argument of Russian publishers is perhaps more listened to, that Western influences should be introduced to Russia and Western literature for children.
Strellman reminds us of the suppression of Ukrainian culture in the Soviet Union and how Ukrainian publishing houses are now struggling in the middle of the war.
– In my opinion, the question is not about how to keep Russian culture alive, but about keeping Ukrainian culture alive in general, says Strellman.
The future of translated literature is dim
The frozen relations with Western countries have already caused difficulties for Russian publishing houses.
For example, bank connections are broken, which has made it difficult to pay for the rights, and some Western publishing houses do not sell rights even to small Russian publishing houses as a matter of principle.
Yelena Dorofeeva manages the Nordbook publishing program for Nordic literature at the Moscow publishing house Gorodets.
– At the moment, we don’t feel the difference, because publishing books is a long process. Now books will be published, with which we started the process a year, a year and a half ago, Dorofejeva said in an interview at the end of last year.
The future, on the other hand, was shrouded in darkness.
– Of course, we are worried because during the past year it has practically not been possible to buy rights.
Translated literature has enjoyed great popularity in Russia. Russian Book Chamber in statistics (you switch to another service) as many as 70-80 percent of the most popular books has been (you switch to another service) translation books.
In addition, grant programs are largely frozen. Even in all the Nordic countries, the line does not seem to have been as strict as in Finland.
– We are very grateful to Sweden and Norway. They have not frozen the grants and we have received some positive decisions in these months, which is a great moral support for us, Dorofejeva said.
Of course, due to the cut off of financial connections, these grants have not been received.
Grants have been especially important in Russia for bringing lesser-known young authors to the book market.
FILI’s Tiia Strandén does not feel that Finland’s policy is stricter than other Nordic countries. Discussions were held beforehand with colleagues about the alignment.
– The way in which the outward line was shaped may have varied a bit, but in practice it is the same for everyone, Strandén thinks.
– It may be that we have been clearer and faster in how this has been formulated.
The political atmosphere can be seen in the book industry as well
The fate of life in Peredelkino’s writer’s village also shows the conflicting relationship of the Soviet Union with literature.
Writers were important to the Soviet government, but they wanted to set limits on literature. For example, Isaak Babel died in Stalin’s persecutions. Boris Pasternak’s Nobel Prize-winning novel Doctor Zhivago was not published in the Soviet Union until 1987.
In modern Russia, the role of literature is not as central to the state ideology, but it is still under new pressure.
The works of authors designated as foreign agents have been sold in brown paper packages in some bookstores.
The new, even stricter gay propaganda law makes it difficult, if not impossible, to deal with the issues of gender minorities in culture.
Publishing houses are aware of the difficulties associated with the new law. Another difficulty is the unclear wording of the law – which, strictly speaking, counts as propaganda.
– Everyone will be very careful, because the fines are very large for both bookstores and publishing houses, Dorofejeva said.
– We too have had to hold negotiations regarding some books. Of course it is difficult. Some writers are against all censorship, others have been ready for some concessions, Dorofejeva said.
Dorofejeva said that it is very difficult to assess the future of the book industry right now. The editions will probably get smaller and the selection narrower. The popularity of e-books and audiobooks is growing.
– We hope that printed books will continue to live and that it will be possible to publish books by foreign authors as well.
In Peredelkino, the translators want to believe that cultural relations will someday be restored.
Ivan Priležajev thinks that cutting off cultural ties may seem like an easy way to do something for peace, but it may not be very effective.
– Unfortunately, it is culture that has suffered from this. I don’t think isolation is the best way to promote peace.