Übersetzen & Weltretten: Orwell und die Internettrolle

Orwell and the Internet Trolls

Dystopias hold up a mirror to our world. Some even manage to do so with humor, as in the Slovak writer Michal Hvorečky’s *Troll* (2018). The novel, which warns of the threats to democratic societies in the digital age, is strongly reminiscent of Orwell’s analysis of totalitarian structures in *1984*, including its linguistic distortion of reality. Hvorečky’s translator, Mirko Kraetsch, and Orwell’s translator, Frank Heibert, discuss the relevance of these visions in today’s fake news industry and share their respective approaches to translating both new and classic dystopias.

Translating & Saving the World— a festival that puts literary translation in the spotlight and sparks a touch of utopia in sociopolitical debates.

From September 11–25, 2026, the festival organized by Weltlesebühne e. V. invites you to rediscover the transformative power of literature. How can utopias and dystopias help us shape the society of tomorrow? Through discussions, readings, workshops, and participatory formats, the festival celebrates the cultural diversity of utopian and dystopian literature in various languages and demonstrates concretely how translators open paths to a different world.

For more information, visit: weltretten.weltlesebuehne.de

“Übersetzen& Weltretten” is organized by Weltlesebühne e. V. and the TOLEDO program of the German Translators’ Fund, in collaboration with the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin and Lettrétage, and with the kind support of the Berlin Central and State Library (ZLB). The festival is funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and the German Translators’ Fund.

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Frank Heibert, born in Essen in 1960, lives in Berlin with his husband, Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel, and works as a literary and theater translator. He has translated approximately 120 works of prose and 120 plays from English, French, Italian, and Portuguese, including works by Don DeLillo, Richard Ford, William Faulkner, George Orwell, George Saunders, Neil LaBute, Tony Kushner, Boris Vian, Raymond Queneau, Marie Darrieussecq, Yasmina Reza, Aldo Busi, Curzio Malaparte, and Jorge de Sena. He is also active as a lecturer, author (novels, essays), critic, moderator, and jazz singer. Recipient of various translation awards.

Mirko Kraetsch, born in Dresden in 1971, translates from Czech and Slovak across all literary genres. He hosts readings, gives lectures, and leads workshops. He volunteers on the board of the VdÜ and with Weltlesebühne e. V., and is also a member of the Munich Translators’ Forum, the Austrian Forum for Literary Translation, and the Slovak association DoSlov. Among others, he has translated works by Michal Tallo, Marek Torčík, Iva Procházková, Markéta Pilátová, Irena Dousková, Michal Hvorecky, Peter Krištúfek, Emil Hakl, and Bianca Bellová into German.