q & a with stephen dalziel, translator of the return of the russian leviathan by sergei medvedev

How did you first become interested in Russia?

A: For no obvious reason – with no family connection - I was fascinated by Russia even when I was a small boy back in the 1960s. When I was 13, a teacher at school offered to teach a Russian class – and I was hooked after one lesson! From then on, my path was obvious e: O-level, A-level, degree in Russian Studies – and then I’ve been fortunate enough to use my Russian and work with Russia for nearly 40 years

How difficult was Sergei’s book to translate?

I’ve worked with political and historical texts for many years, so generally the language was familiar to me. Of course, the challenge with any translation is not only to convey the meaning and the spirit of the original, but also make the translation read well in English. It was a great help that Sergei has excellent English, so I would send him each chapter after I had made my first draft and then we would agree the text together. He was the ideal author for a translator to work with!

Give a few examples of any words, phrases or concepts that were particularly challenging to translate into English.

Sometimes as a translator you understand a phrase perfectly because you are thinking in the language of the original and not translating for yourself, but have to think hard about how best to render it in English. One such phrase was, ‘Я вспоминаю свой школьный выпускной’. I eventually settled on, ‘I remember well my school-leaving “do”’. At first, this puzzled Sergei, but I explained that describing this event as ‘a do’ fitted perfectly. It is a sign of our cooperation that Sergei took my word for it!

There are always going to be words and phrases that you feel need some explanation for the non-Russian reader; after all, you hope it won’t only be people with a close interest in Russia who will read the book. So as I went through, I inserted endnotes and also compiled a glossary of names and terms such as muzhik, patsan and even perestroika (younger readers may not remember Gorbachev!).

Titles – of the book and of chapters – can be a challenge. The original book in Russian was called Парк Крымского периода, as it is Sergei’s thesis that post-Soviet Russian history divides into the period before the invasion of Crimea, and since. He and I settled on Crimassic Park, but the publisher preferred to go with his original sub-title, The Return of the Russian Leviathan.

What is your next translation project?

I’ve been lucky to have a project in lockdown: to translate The Soviet Passport by Albert Baiburin. Most countries in Europe dispensed with internal passports in the nineteenth century, but it was only after the Bolshevik Revolution that Russia stopped using them. But they were re-introduced in 1932, and became a crucial tool for controlling population movement. It’s a fascinating and little-explored piece of Russian and Soviet history.

Stephen Dalziel is a Russian specialist, translator and author. Stephen worked at the Soviet Studies Research Centre at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst after completing a degree in Russian Studies. He later worked as a Russian Affairs Analyst at the BBC World Service and spent five years as Executive Director of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce (RBCC).