Translation and ideology: the translation of crime fiction in Bulgaria during the Cold War

Abstract

Crime fiction during the Cold War era served as a link between the two sides of the Iron Curtain. Since such a link was impossible in practice, it had to be simulated. This paper discusses the mechanism of this simulation. In communist Bulgaria, crime fiction was often translated. This was no accident, since it was acknowledged by communist ideology as a “low” genre that symbolized the West’s downfall and the total breakdown of its culture under the hegemony of capitalist consumerism. The communist government exposed the West’s true nature through the translation of crime novels, namely its mercantilism, people’s willingness to do everything for money, including committing crimes, and its total lack of morality.