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Article published In:
Translation and the cultural Cold War
Edited by Esmaeil Haddadian-Moghaddam and Giles Scott-Smith
[Translation and Interpreting Studies 15:3] 2020
► pp. 399–418

The backstories of Cold War translations

Shepherding into English the writing of Miroslav Krleža and Milovan Djilas

ORCID logo | Independent Scholar
Ideological expectations coupled with opportunism, personal advancement, friendship, and the political and ideological loyalties held by those who served as patrons for publishing translations were the factors that informed decisions about what would be translated in the Cold War years between 1945 and 1989. This article considers the choices made by publishers Frederick A. Praeger, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, and Vanguard Press when publishing the fiction and non-fiction of Milovan Djilas and Miroslav Krleža, writers from Yugoslavia. The backstories behind the publishing of the translations lie at the intersection of the public and private spheres of culture, and demonstrate how ideological agendas interlace with personal bonds, loyalties, aspirations, and ambitions.
Keywords: patronage, Yugoslavia, dissidents, publishing, opportunism
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Miroslav Krleža and Milovan Djilas
  • Translating the apostate
  • Translating the liberal leftist
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 16 September 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.20073.eli
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