Abstract
The period of German occupation in Latvia came after twenty years of Latvian independence and a year of Soviet occupation. The shifts in the translation policies at these critical junctions were incredibly fast. The independence period was marked by a developed translation industry, a variety of the source languages, a variety of kinds of literature, with a broad scope in the quality of the translations. When the Soviets came, they quickly nationalized the publishers, ideologised the system and reshaped the pattern of what was translated. Russian was made the main source language, and other languages were minimized. The share of ideological literature grew exponentially, reaching one third of all books. Soon after the German invasion, the publishers regained their printing houses and publishing was renewed. The percentage of translations was similar to that of the independence period, with German literature making up 70% of the source texts. Most of the other source texts were Nordic and Estonian. Translation quality of fiction was generally high and the print runs grew. There are surprisingly few ideologically motivated translations. The official policies of the regime as regards publishing in Latvia appear to be uncoordinated and vague, with occasional decisions taken by “gate-keepers” in the Ostministerium and other authorities according to their own preferences. There was a nominal pre-censorship, but the publishers were expected to know and sense what was acceptable. In turn the latter played it safe, sticking to classical and serious works to translate and publish. Some high class translations of Latvian classics into German were also published during the period.
Highlights
Translation policies under totalitarian regimes constitute an as-yet largely unexplored area in studies of both fascism and translatology
The translation scene during the German occupation is an untouched area in Latvian translation history
The Communist system was quick to nationalise publishers: Soviet Latvia was declared on 21 July 1940, and nationalisation took place the day
Summary
Translation policies under totalitarian regimes constitute an as-yet largely unexplored area in studies of both fascism and translatology. Next to nothing exists on policies in occupied territories, where the situation is even more complex, as they involve extra players and changing political interests, both those of the occupiers and the locals. These issues fall under the sociological side of translation studies: translations actively intervene in the textual and political world of the receiving language because there are multiple agents with various interests (Wolf 2007), with reality both quantitatively and qualitatively testifying to this. The translation scene during the German occupation is an untouched area in Latvian translation history.
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