On March 22, under the auspices of the Permanent Delegation of the Russian Federation to UNESCO, the Russian Institute for Literary Translation made a presentation in Paris.
Participating in the meeting at UNESCO Headquarters were: MsEleonoraMitrofanova, Russia’s Permanent Delegate to UNESCO; MrEvgenyReznichenko, Executive Director of the Institute for Literary Translation; MsKaterinaStenou, Coordinator of UNESCO’s Intersectoral Platform on World Culture Issues; MrChristian Manhart, Chief Section of Museums and Cultural Objects Section in Culture Sector; as well as UNESCO representatives from Brazil, China,Egypt, France, Germany, India, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Qatar,Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain and Ukraine.
Participantswere briefed during the presentation about the objectives for founding the Institute for Literary Translation in Russia as a noncommercial organizationwhoseprimary goal is the promotion of Russian literature throughout the world. The Institute’s main mission is to support foreign translators and publishers who work with Russian literature. The Institute has thus established a system under which translators or publishers can receive grants for translation and publication of various works of fiction or poetry.
Guidelines for receiving grantswere statedand a list of translations published by the Institute was presented. The foreign diplomats received a detailed picture of the scope of the events in the Institute’s program for supporting translators: an annual congress of literary translators with a broad circle of foreign participants, workshops on translation, and thematic scholarly conferences.
The foreign representatives were also interested to hear information about the Read Russia Prize established bythe Institute for Literary Translation. The award is made to a translator or group of translators for exceptional translation of works of prose and poetry from Russian into other languages and published in translation by a foreign publisher during the previous two years. Awards are made in four categories: for translations of contemporary and classic prose, and for translations of contemporary and classic poetry.
It was noted during the discussion that the topic of language diversity continues to retain its importance for UNESCO, which is working to assist that focus area,in part throughthe Index Translationum program. With that in mind, a thorough examination of potential ways to extendbusiness ties between the Institute and UNESCO’s Culture Sector is planned.
Many of the ambassadors who commented (Germany, France, China, Slovakia, India, Serbia, and Mexico) emphasized the high authority and world renown of the Russian school of literary translation. They noted the promising nature of the Russian Institute’sactivity as well as the interest that professional translators in the countries they represent may express in collaborating under the Russian terms.
Information from the Permanent Delegation of the Russian Federation to UNESCO.
March 25, 2013
