ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the gatekeeping networks that control the circulation of contemporary fiction from Russia to the UK and the US. It investigates the relationship between editors and translators, and finds that most novels are commissioned through an ad hoc system of recommendations based on symbolic capital. It also looks at translator image, the ‘brands’ that some create, and the role and influence of ‘celebrity’ translators. This chapter also considers the ways in which publishers and translators resist potential homogeneity within the literary market – a risk because resulting from conservative commissioning practices, and the lack of Russian-language skills in publishing houses.
