The Influence of Communism on Translational and Editorial Activity

After a short historical overview of the events after the Second World War in Slove­nia, the chapter identifies different forms of ideological control of printed media in socialist Slovenia and describes the mechanisms of control in the publishing world, paying particular attention to translation. Through extensive research into the archives and interviews with the editors, the chapter identifies the main agents responsible for ideological shifts in translation, and exemplifies the workings of state control of print and publishing by focusing on the post-Second World War publishing house Mladinska knjiga. The chapter concludes by arguing that in this historical period a particularly influential role was played by the editors, who through their selection of the original texts and translators guaranteed that the publications were ideologically acceptable, but who, at the same time, with occasional deviations from the official ideological imperatives pushed the boundaries of what was considered acceptable and publishable in socialist Slovenia.