ABSTRACT
This chapter interrogates the ethical complexities of translating contemporary Russian fiction into English. Drawing on work by Anthony Pym, Andrew Chesterman, and Maria Tymoczko, it contends that translation ethics extend far beyond linguistic fidelity, encompassing questions of moral responsibility, funding structures, and the politics of representation. Referencing microhistories around Sankya, The Librarian, The Big Green Tent, and Day of the Oprichnik, it demonstrates that translators’ choices often reflect personal political bias. The chapter expands Pym's five principles of translator ethics out to the wider publishing ecosystem and argues that editors and funding bodies share accountability for shaping how Russian literature enters the Anglophone world.
