Masha Karp | |
---|---|
Native name | Мария Поэлевна Карп |
Born | Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), USSR | 3 September 1956
Occupation | Author, Translator, Journalist |
Language | English, Russian |
Alma mater | Herzen University |
Masha Karp is a political journalist and a scholar on the work of George Orwell. She is the author of two books about Orwell: his biography, in Russian (2017) and "George Orwell and Russia", in English (2023). She is also a translator of English and German literature into Russian, a literary critic and a former BBC editor.
Masha Karp was born in Leningrad, USSR (now St Petersburg, Russia). Her father Poel Karp ( Карп, Поэль Меерович) is a poet, literary translator, ballet critic and political writer. Masha was educated as a linguist in the Herzen University in Leningrad. She began publishing her translations of English and German poetry and prose into Russian in 1983. Her published translations include works of Virginia Woolf, Alice Munro, Dylan Thomas, W. H. Auden, Elizabeth Jennings, Andreas Gryphius and Nikolaus Lenau. [1] She also translated George Orwell’s fable "Animal Farm" and its original preface "The Freedom of the Press". [2]
In 1991 she moved to London [3] to work first as a producer (1991-1997) and then as Russian Features editor (1997-2009) for the BBC World Service, making and commissioning programmes on cultural, political and social issues. She also took part in BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service radio output in English and in the live BBC World Television show Europe Direct. [4]
Since 2009 she has been a freelance journalist with a special interest in relations between Russia and the West. This was the main subject of her articles published in the national press (Standpoint, The Independent, The Spectator, Open Democracy, etc.) and on the website of the UK NGO Rights in Russia, of which she has been a trustee since its foundation in 2010.
George Orwell’s life and work and its relevance to Russia has always remained in the centre of Masha’s attention. Her biography of Orwell, the first scholarly biography of the writer to be published in Russia, was a finalist of the ABS Literary Prize. [5] [6] She is a member of the board of The Orwell Society and the editor of the OS Journal. [7] [8]
In 2023 Karp published "George Orwell and Russia", [9] which received wide critical acclaim. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] It was positively reviewed inter alia by The Times Literary Supplement, [22] Forbes, [23] and The Boston Globe. [24] The book attracted attention of veteran diplomat Rodric Braithwaite, who served for a short time as British Ambassador in Moscow during the fall of the USSR, he found the author's analysis unconvincing. [25] On the other hand, another diplomat, the permanent representative of Canada in the UN Bob Rae called the book "brilliant". [26]
Masha Karp is the Chair of the Pushkin Club and a trustee of "Rights in Russia" [27] in Britain, while in Russia she is a member of St. Petersburg Writers' Union and the Literary Translators' Guild.
Masha Karp was awarded a prize of Innostrannaya literatura magazine (1991) for her translation of Virginia Woolf and also Popov Prize (2001) for her radio feature "In Defence of Freedom". [28] [29]
The author, Masha Karp, was born and educated in Leningrad (now St Petersburg) and moved to London in 1991
George Orwell and Russia makes for fascinating reading. Karp's exploration of the past, with an eye on the present, enables her to uncover the roots of George Orwell's enduring relevance.
Ms. Karp's close reading of Orwell is important and timely
It's a timely and well-researched account of the origins of newspeak.
Throughout "Orwell and Russia", the author excels at pinpointing the crossovers between Orwell's lived experience, Soviet history and her own deep understanding of the Soviet system
Karp has done extensive archival research and discovered valuable information from sources in Moscow
Masha Karp's 'George Orwell and Russia' explores the country's pathologies through the novelist's eyes
Alla Roylance, librarian for Slavic and Eastern European Studies; Linguistics, recommends George Orwell and Russia by Masha Karp (Bloomsbury Academic, 2023)
Karp's book is fascinating, well-written, timely and original: a necessary reappraisal of what Orwell's work meant, and its relevance today
Clearly written and straightforwardly presented, George Orwell and Russia will thus appeal not only to the general reader but also to scholars interested in expert treatment of this significant dimension of the work and reception of George Orwell, arguably the most important literary figure of modern times
Karp's scholarly understanding of Russia and Orwell make the book a treasure trove of new insights and Karp's personal engagement with it, adds a fresh dimension to how we see Orwell and to the dilemmas of decent Russians who are now, yet again, in exile from their own country
Karp's gripping new book, roots Orwell's dystopian literature and political commentary of the 1940s in his critical engagement with the totalitarian and fascist politics of the Soviet Union from the early 1930s
A timely book by Masha Karp, a former Russian Features editor for the BBC World Service, shines a light on an unexplored topic—George Orwell and Russia. Government oppression, official gaslighting and fabricating history did not die with Orwell's model for 1984, the Soviet Union. Russian leader Vladimir Putin retooled these practices for the 21st century.
Karp is eloquent on how the Kremlin uses implausible lies to express contempt for the West while it winks at Russians and yet spreads uncertainty about the reliability of any information.
The suggestion that Russia has become an Orwellian tyranny is an inadequate explanation as to why the country finds itself in its present situation
At the end of her brilliant book George Orwell and Russia, Masha Karp quotes from Orwell's late essay Looking Back on the Spanish War.
Masha Karp | |
---|---|
Native name | Мария Поэлевна Карп |
Born | Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), USSR | 3 September 1956
Occupation | Author, Translator, Journalist |
Language | English, Russian |
Alma mater | Herzen University |
Masha Karp is a political journalist and a scholar on the work of George Orwell. She is the author of two books about Orwell: his biography, in Russian (2017) and "George Orwell and Russia", in English (2023). She is also a translator of English and German literature into Russian, a literary critic and a former BBC editor.
Masha Karp was born in Leningrad, USSR (now St Petersburg, Russia). Her father Poel Karp ( Карп, Поэль Меерович) is a poet, literary translator, ballet critic and political writer. Masha was educated as a linguist in the Herzen University in Leningrad. She began publishing her translations of English and German poetry and prose into Russian in 1983. Her published translations include works of Virginia Woolf, Alice Munro, Dylan Thomas, W. H. Auden, Elizabeth Jennings, Andreas Gryphius and Nikolaus Lenau. [1] She also translated George Orwell’s fable "Animal Farm" and its original preface "The Freedom of the Press". [2]
In 1991 she moved to London [3] to work first as a producer (1991-1997) and then as Russian Features editor (1997-2009) for the BBC World Service, making and commissioning programmes on cultural, political and social issues. She also took part in BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service radio output in English and in the live BBC World Television show Europe Direct. [4]
Since 2009 she has been a freelance journalist with a special interest in relations between Russia and the West. This was the main subject of her articles published in the national press (Standpoint, The Independent, The Spectator, Open Democracy, etc.) and on the website of the UK NGO Rights in Russia, of which she has been a trustee since its foundation in 2010.
George Orwell’s life and work and its relevance to Russia has always remained in the centre of Masha’s attention. Her biography of Orwell, the first scholarly biography of the writer to be published in Russia, was a finalist of the ABS Literary Prize. [5] [6] She is a member of the board of The Orwell Society and the editor of the OS Journal. [7] [8]
In 2023 Karp published "George Orwell and Russia", [9] which received wide critical acclaim. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] It was positively reviewed inter alia by The Times Literary Supplement, [22] Forbes, [23] and The Boston Globe. [24] The book attracted attention of veteran diplomat Rodric Braithwaite, who served for a short time as British Ambassador in Moscow during the fall of the USSR, he found the author's analysis unconvincing. [25] On the other hand, another diplomat, the permanent representative of Canada in the UN Bob Rae called the book "brilliant". [26]
Masha Karp is the Chair of the Pushkin Club and a trustee of "Rights in Russia" [27] in Britain, while in Russia she is a member of St. Petersburg Writers' Union and the Literary Translators' Guild.
Masha Karp was awarded a prize of Innostrannaya literatura magazine (1991) for her translation of Virginia Woolf and also Popov Prize (2001) for her radio feature "In Defence of Freedom". [28] [29]
The author, Masha Karp, was born and educated in Leningrad (now St Petersburg) and moved to London in 1991
George Orwell and Russia makes for fascinating reading. Karp's exploration of the past, with an eye on the present, enables her to uncover the roots of George Orwell's enduring relevance.
Ms. Karp's close reading of Orwell is important and timely
It's a timely and well-researched account of the origins of newspeak.
Throughout "Orwell and Russia", the author excels at pinpointing the crossovers between Orwell's lived experience, Soviet history and her own deep understanding of the Soviet system
Karp has done extensive archival research and discovered valuable information from sources in Moscow
Masha Karp's 'George Orwell and Russia' explores the country's pathologies through the novelist's eyes
Alla Roylance, librarian for Slavic and Eastern European Studies; Linguistics, recommends George Orwell and Russia by Masha Karp (Bloomsbury Academic, 2023)
Karp's book is fascinating, well-written, timely and original: a necessary reappraisal of what Orwell's work meant, and its relevance today
Clearly written and straightforwardly presented, George Orwell and Russia will thus appeal not only to the general reader but also to scholars interested in expert treatment of this significant dimension of the work and reception of George Orwell, arguably the most important literary figure of modern times
Karp's scholarly understanding of Russia and Orwell make the book a treasure trove of new insights and Karp's personal engagement with it, adds a fresh dimension to how we see Orwell and to the dilemmas of decent Russians who are now, yet again, in exile from their own country
Karp's gripping new book, roots Orwell's dystopian literature and political commentary of the 1940s in his critical engagement with the totalitarian and fascist politics of the Soviet Union from the early 1930s
A timely book by Masha Karp, a former Russian Features editor for the BBC World Service, shines a light on an unexplored topic—George Orwell and Russia. Government oppression, official gaslighting and fabricating history did not die with Orwell's model for 1984, the Soviet Union. Russian leader Vladimir Putin retooled these practices for the 21st century.
Karp is eloquent on how the Kremlin uses implausible lies to express contempt for the West while it winks at Russians and yet spreads uncertainty about the reliability of any information.
The suggestion that Russia has become an Orwellian tyranny is an inadequate explanation as to why the country finds itself in its present situation
At the end of her brilliant book George Orwell and Russia, Masha Karp quotes from Orwell's late essay Looking Back on the Spanish War.