Lih Interpretation
Lars T. Lih has suggested that Lenin's pamphlet has been widely misinterpreted, partly due to mistranslations of key terms used by Lenin.
Lih also says that "even if we examine the controversial passages in What is to be Done? we misunderstand them if we are not alive to the meanings of the words used. Some of these have been translated in such a way as to confuse or even to draw readers to the opposite of what Lenin’s real views were". Pages and pages of Lih's book, therefore, are devoted to explaining why and how the word stikhiinyi, when translated as spontaneity, distorts his views; how konspiratsiia does not mean ‘conspiracy’; tred-iunionizm does not mean ‘trade unionism’ and revoliutsioner po professii should not be translated as ‘professional revolutionary.’
Read more about this topic: What Is To Be Done?