Technical Translations in the Service of Political and Scientific Communication in Post-War Romania. The Case of Russian Translations and the Role of Arlus-Russian Book Publishing House

Abstract

The place of translations in the process of interpersonal communication can be defined on the one hand by referring to the linguistic aspect of the act of translation, so to the linguistic role of translation as a communication tool, and, on the other hand, by recalling the epistemological value of translation seen as an opener of the road to knowledge in a broad sense. In fact, translation unites cultures, creates bridges to knowledge and participates in its spread. However, for the current research, we have chosen to talk about the social role of translations, which, beyond their linguistic and epistemological role, can become a political and scientific communication tool at the disposal of some social actors holding political power. We will briefly present here the role of technical translations in political-ideological and technical-scientific communication in Romanian society from the immediate post-war years in Romania, which entered an accelerated process of sovietisation of society. Translations became an instrument of political power used in changing mentalities, in educating the masses according to Soviet standards and in the political transformation of society.