Swedish Crime Fiction in Russia and The Soviet Union 1926-2021: Publication and Paratextual Framing

Malin Podlevskikh Carlström defended her PhD in Slavic languages in 2020. In her thesis, she analyzed the translation and reception of Tatyana Tolstaya’s intertextual novel Kys’ (The Slynx) in Sweden and the U.S. Apart from an analysis of the translation of intertextual references, the thesis included a comparative analysis of the novel’s reception in the two target cultures. 

Podlevskikh Carlström is since 2020 working on the research project ”What is ”Swedish” in Swedish literature: Publication, marketing and reception of Swedish literature in Russia,” funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR). The project aims to create a translation bibliography of Swedish literature published in Russian translation 1946-2021, based on which a number of case studies of the Russian reception of Swedish literature will be performed. The topic of today’s presentation—Swedish crime fiction in Russia—is an example of such a case study. During the lecture, results of an analysis of the paratextual framing and reception of Swedish crime fiction in Russia 1926-2021 will be presented. Throughout the 96 years between 1926 and 2021, Swedish crime fiction has developed from a small-scale local occurrence to a global phenomenon. However, the target culture, Russia, has also undergone great changes during this period. Due to the political and ideological development, attitudes towards Sweden—the source culture—have varied over this period. Based on an analysis of written peritexts (on book covers, copyright pages, fore- and afterwords) to first editions of Swedish crime fiction in Russian translation (approx. 250 editions) conclusions have been drawn regarding 1) representations of the genre of crime fiction in general, and Swedish crime fiction in particular; 2) representations of Sweden, the source culture; 3) other aspects of the paratextual framing (e.g. ideology, marketing). During the final part of the presentation the newspaper reception of Swedish crime fiction in Russia will be in focus.