V. Shalamov’s Kolyma Stories [Kolymskie rasskazy] in translations by J. Glad and D. Rayfield

Abstract

The article offers a quick historical overview of the English translations of Varlam Shalamov’s Kolyma Stories [Kolymskie rasskazy]. The first translation of a big selection of stories was made by J. Glad: the selected tales were published by W.W. Norton & Company in two volumes (Kolyma Stories in 1980 and Graphite in 1981), to be printed as a single volume in 1994 under the title Kolyma Stories. A new and superior edition appeared in the years 2018 and 2020 — the two-volume Kolyma Stories translated by D. Rayfield; his complete translation is based on the authorial text published in Russia by Shalamov’s literary estate executor I. Sirotinskaya. This ensures that the cycle’s compositional integrity is intact. Agreeing with the opinion expressed by A. Osipova in her review ‘The Forced Conversion of Varlam Shalamov’ in The Los Angeles Review of Books, we recognise Rayfield’s achievements in conveying Shalamov’s terse style and masterful use of detail, including details as symbols or signs — the cornerstone of Shalamov’s writings. Also analysed are the theses in A. Valles’ Introduction to the second volume, which suggest the importance of a philological reading of Shalamov’s works.