An examination of self-translation using the works of Hryhorii Kvitka-Osnovianenko

What is it about?

This article is the first ever English-language translation of a seminal Russian-Ukrainian article on self-translation by the Ukrainian scholar Alexander Finkel. Finkel examines how an author (specifically Hryhorii Kvitka-Osnovianenko) approaches the translation of their own work, especially in the context of unequal languages - in this case Ukrainian (at the time often condescendingly referred to as a 'dialect') and Russian (the language of empire in what is now Ukraine).

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Why is it important?

Finkel was a pioneering thinker on the subject of self-translation, having written on the subject extensively throughout his career. Unfortunately, his works - as well as many other works published in Eastern Europe - are still largely unknown in the West and remain untranslated. This translation, we hope, will at last bring Anglophone attention to Finkel's innovative work.