Digital Poetry in Today’s Russia: Canonisation and Translation

Project Information

GLORIOUS

Grant agreement ID: 840119

DOI

10.3030/840119

Project closed

EC signature date 12 April 2019

Start date 1 October 2019

End date 30 September 2021

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 202 158,72

EU contribution

€ 202 158,72

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITETET I TROMSOE - NORGES ARKTISKE UNIVERSITET
Norway

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GLORIOUS (Digital Poetry in Today’s Russia: Canonisation and Translation)

Reporting period: 2019-10-01 to 2021-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

GLORIOUS studies the impact of the internet – in particular, but not exclusively social media – on Russian poetry. My research has focused on two areas: how poetry is published, and how it is translated.

The internet has had a major impact on the publication of Russian-language poetry. The poetry boom on the web takes place on various platforms: online journals that function much like print journals; specialist repository sites that can include author pages, journals and other literary projects; and individual authors’ channels on social media such as VKontakte, Facebook and YouTube. This phenomenon has also invigorated the practice of poetry translation into English – the lingua franca of the internet and scholarly discourse. While the translation of Russian poetry is a vibrant field that draws in many scholars and graduate students, Anglophone academia neglects translation practice; translation is underrated as an (impact-generating!) result of research. New media has opened up interactive ways for writers to engage with their audiences, with each other, and with their translators. Yet scholarship is slow to catch up with these contemporary forms. Moreover, the editors of non-specialist translation journals, which have a wide public reach, are often not aware of writers who publish predominantly online.

These are the central objectives of the project:
a) To explore and interpret the contemporary scene of younger poets who promote their writing online.
b) To promote selected poets to the academic and reading communities through scholarship and translation.
c) To bring poetry and scholarship closer by working with both scholars and translators on highly visible publications, including non-specialist journals.

The objectives have been achieved. Some planned steps had to be modified or abandoned due to the coronavirus restrictions during the pandemic (this concerns first and foremost the field trip to Russia to research literary festivals). Conversely, the practice of moving many events online has provided me with unprecedented opportunities for conference/invited lecture participation.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Objectives a/b
I researched individual poet’s online presence, with a focus on two case studies: Galina Rymbu, a well-known feminist and founder of the online platform F-Pis’mo; she publishes on social media and her poetry is reprinted by leading journals. I described the poetic internet sensation of 2020: Rymbu’s poem in defence of a political activist, which led to huge debate and was deleted by Facebook, but also translated into 10 languages. Results (links to all on project website unless specified):
- guest lecture at the University of Trier, November 2020
- peer-reviewed article, accepted, forthcoming in "Internationale Zeitschrift fuer Kulturkomparatistik" in 2022
- review of translated collection of feminist poet Lida Yusupova for "Words without Borders" translation journal, May 2021
My second case study is Kseniia Zheludova, a poet who publishes almost exclusively on the Russian platform VKontakte and runs her own group. Results:
- interview with Zheludova for literary blog "Punctured Lines", March 2021
- my translations of Zheludova's poetry for "Words without Borders" translation journal, February 2021

Objectives b/c - Promoting selected poets through scholarship and translation; working with both scholars and translators on highly visible publications, including non-specialist journals.
I took part in two large collaborative translation projects mediated by the internet: I co-edited a special Russophone issue of the translation journals "Words without Borders" together with Hilah Kohen. Results:
- "Young Russophonia", for "Words without Borders" translation journal, February 2021
- panel on translating young Russian writers for ALTA43 conference
- online launch of "Young Russophonia" (University of Pennsylvania)
- online roundtable on "Young Russophonia"(Russian Cultural Centre, London)
Combined audience of 180 people in the UK and US
I am part of the translation team for the Russian Free Verse project – a bilingual, online version of a 400+page anthology of contemporary free verse
- my translator page with link to all poets I have translated
- publication in "Circumference" translation journal.

To replace the workshop for poets and translators at Tromso University I encouraged writers and translators to reflect on their creative relationship:
- blog post detailing three collaborations (for "Pushkin House" Russian cultural centre)
- curated the series "Young Russian Writers in Conversation" for ALTA43 conference

I participated in the "Contemporary Poetic Practice" conference at Moscow State University for the Humanities in February 2021. I also received training in translation theory as a guest student on a course in translatology at UiT

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The audience-facing activities described above have enabled me to embark on a unique trajectory. They became scholarly case studies for three separate research articles that will appear in peer-reviewed publications in 2022 and 2023:
- "Translating Russian Poetry into English in the Age of Social Media" (on the effect on online communication on translation practice) - submitted to "Internationale Zeitschrift fuer Kulturkomparatistik"
- "New Russian Literature and Online Journals" - to be presented at a conference at Munich University, October 2021 - article submitted to "Wiener Slawistischer Almanach"
- on identity in Russian online poetry communities, for book project "Imagining Collective Selves in Turn-of-the-Millennium Russia. Literary Consumption, Memory and Identity", University of Leiden (abstract submitted)

I have collected material for two more research articles, to be developed over the next year.

The novelty of my research consists in the focus on the so-called communicative turn instigated by social media. The communicative turn implies that interaction, rather than information, has become the focus of internet use. To "become" a translator - a member of the translation community - it is sufficient to join relevant social media groups and workshop translation drafts rather than publish entire collections in print. While researchers are beginning to investigate the mechanisms that form and develop online communities of writers, little research has been done on internet-mediated communication between different agents in the literary process. I have reason to believe that my research article is the first of its kind: underpinned with practical experience, as I participate in several of my case studies as a translator.

T case studies, and the translation projects on which they are based, form an important stepping stone to the long-term goal laid out in my project application: the formation of a network of people who write, translate and research contemporary Russian poetry, combined with rigorous scholarship that develops a vocabulary for discussing new phenomena. The drive to move discussions and presentations online during the pandemic has enhanced the visibility of both translation projects and the performances that accompany them, such as launches and public interviews between participants. My bias towards women - as case studies, poets for translation and collaborators - makes a contribution towards redressing the imbalance in the industry – in 2017, only 31% of new translations into English concerned the work of women authors.

Title page of "Words without Borders" translation journal, February 2021