Malin Podlevskikh Carlström

About Malin Podlevskikh Carlström

Project description

I am working on a transdisciplinary thesis with the working title The Trials of the Intertextual: The Translation and Reception of Tatyana Tolstaya’s Kys' in Sweden and the United States.

In my thesis work, I am exploring translations of contemporary Russian literature with a particular focus on intertextuality. How are these works translated and read, being largely based as they are on quotations from and allusions to other, primarily Russian, literature? My material consists of Tatyana Tolstaya’s novel Kys' (2000), the Swedish translation Därv (2003) and the American English translation The Slynx (2003).

The first part of my thesis deals with translation strategy, that is, how the extensive intertextuality in Kys' has been translated into Swedish and English. In the second part, I focus instead on the reception of the translation and, based on its reviews in the newspapers, draw conclusions about how the translated work has been read in each of the target language cultures.

Earlier education

When studying Russian at undergraduate level, I became interested in the use of allusions and different forms of intertextuality in Russian literature. I also started to consider a future as a translator and applied to the Master’s program in translation at the University of Gothenburg. After finishing the program, I worked as a freelance translator for a few years, before returning to the university as a teacher in Russian and translation. I started my PhD studies in 2012.