The interpreters of working-class militant travelers in the USSR
Type de matériel :
50
In the 1920s and 1930s, the USSR became the point of reference of the world revolution, and attracted militants from all around the world. Their visits required the use of mediators. Initially they were foreign activists who lived in the USSR in the 1920s or multilingual Soviets in exile. Then, gradually, those were replaced by professional interpreters. These mediators had various and complex missions which required that they learn a double-language – they had to satisfy to the demands of both the visitors and the Soviet government. Their testimonies, their reports, as well as their silences, show how difficult building Internationalism was through the practice of languages. Finally, their careers – when they are known to us – reveal the dangers to which they were more and more exposed because they were in contact with people who, although they were Internationalists, were foreigners nonetheless.
Réseaux sociaux