translation help

[black--rainbow.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone, after reading this community for nearly a year this is my first post. I'm from australia, I'm second year Russian at melbourne university. I'm learning Russian because I hope to be a Soviet historian.
Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone could help me with this translation, i feel I've translated it horribly incorrectly, would you be able to point out my mistakes?

В настоящее время отношение к «Архипелагу ГУЛАГ» (и к А. И. Солженицыну) весьма противоречивое, поскольку вопросы отношения к советскому периоду, Октябрьской революции, репрессиям, личностям Ленина и Сталина вновь приобрели политическую остроту.

my translation:
The present attitudes to Gulag Archipelago (and A.I Solzhenitsyn) are very highly contradictory, but as long as questions and attitudes to the Soviet period, the October Revolution, repression, and the figures of Lenin and Stalin are fresh, they (Gulag Archipelago and Solzhenitsyn) have acquired political acuteness.


Thank you preemptively :)

Comments

[oryx_and_crake]

противоречивое -> controversial

[sashka-vyshka.livejournal.com]

"questions and attitudes" - wrong. Questions about attitude
"отношения" in this case is not plural, it's connected with "вопросы"
"they (Gulag Archipelago and Solzhenitsyn)" - wrong. They - questions. Questions have acquired political acuteness.

[khathi.livejournal.com]

Actually, it just might do (1 and 2), if we're not overly concerned to translate the paragraf as directly as possible. There's other major error present. ^_^

[laertid.livejournal.com]

It's not Gulag Archipelago and Solzhenitzyn that have acquired political aquiteness but rather the attidute to the Soviet times, the revolution and so on.

[alon_68]

The present attitudes to Gulag Archipelago (and A.I Solzhenitsyn) are very highly contradictory, since the question of attitudes to the Soviet period, the October Revolution, repressions, and the figures of Lenin and Stalin has again acquired political acuteness.

[oryx_and_crake]

вопросы отношения - problems of opinions (towards smth.), not "questions and attitudes"

поскольку - because

I am not sure that you can translate репрессии as repression. Purges might be better.

have acquired political acuteness - I don't think so

sorry, have to run now, I am sure somebody else will continue

[katiroma.livejournal.com]

I would say:
"The present attitudes ... are rather contradictory since the issue of attitudes to the Soviet era, October Revolution and the figures of Lenin and Stalin is anew of political relevance.

Slightly off topic

[sovevuni.livejournal.com]

To me, a "Soviet historian" means a historian that lived and worked in the USSR and wrote accordingly to the Party's interpretation of history. Can it be used when referring to someone who deals with 'Soviet history', ie. the history of USSR?

I'm not a native speaker of English and I'm asking out of curiosity because I wouldn't have used ths term while referring to someone born out of the USSR.

Re: Slightly off topic

[black--rainbow.livejournal.com]

i meant historian who specialises in the history of the soviet union... but then it could also mean an historian who is a soviet like you said too

[khathi.livejournal.com]

That's basically okay, but you missed the point in one place -- it's not that the book drawn political interest again, but perception of the Soviet history itself, in which the book is only a mark, a representation of one of the points of view.