International and Intercultural Aspects of Reception of Sof’â Fedorčenkos Narod na Vojne

Abstract

The paper is dedicated to the Western reception of Narod na vojne (People at war) written by the little-known Russian writer Sof'ja Fedorčenko. Although it was published first as supposedly authentic reports of soldiers (1917, Kiev), Fedorčenko later claimed it to be one of her own artificial works. This paper focuses on a comparative analysis of three translations of Narod na vojne and transformations, which take place by means of the paratexts and the reorganisation of the fragmentary text. The English translation Ivan speaks (1919, Boston) emphasize an anti-war message, the German translation Der Russe redet (1922, Munich) accentuates a supposed ‘Russian character’ and the French one Le peuple à la guerre (1930, Paris) directs attention to the Russian Revolution.