Page 192 - Vinkler, Jonatan, Ana Beguš and Marcello Potocco. Eds. 2019. Ideology in the 20th Century: Studies of literary and social discourses and practices. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 192
Ideology in the 20th Century: studies of literary and social discourses and practices
Soviet Genre Fiction vs. World Genre Fiction in Translation
It is easily observable in Graph 1 that the Soviet Union’s confidence in
Russian literature had a significant impact on the countries it occupied
after the year 1946. What Nailya Safiullina calls ‘the myth of soviet lit-
erature’ (2012, 562–567), which was put forward in the early 1920s and
which gained momentum in the socialist realism of the 1930s, emerged
in the states annexed by the Soviet Union after World War II alongside
socialist realism, eclipsing all other national literatures. An account giv-
en by a Saint Petersburg-based professor reveals this ‘myth of soviet lit-
erature’ as encapsulating a common belief among Soviet authorities that
Russian literature was “the best in the world and … a model for literatures
worldwide’ (Safiullina 2012, 563). Yet, for this to be accepted as an un-
disputed fact, external legitimation was necessary, and it came from au-
192 thors such as Romain Rolland, Henri Barbusse, André Malraux, Hein-
rich Mann, and André Gide, or through genre fiction by authors such as
Jack London and H.G. Wells. Indeed, as Safiullina notes, this legitima-
tion of Russian literature through foreign works proved useful to the se-
lected contemporary authors, albeit in a very short run. This was due to
the fact that their level of popularity among the readership in the Sovi-
et Union had never been high. Nor had they come close to destabiliz-
ing the positions of the already canonized Victor Hugo and Jules Verne
with the Russian literary hierarchy. This popularity among readers which
had risen prior to the establishment of socialist realism as a ‘shadow can-
on’ (Damrosch 2006, 45), was also a by-product of socialism’s reliance on
popular culture.
The Pragmatic Function of Children’s and Young Adult Literature
Among the Soviet authors translated between 1948 and 1965, some are
genre fiction writers par excellence. In 1951, Dan Petrașincu’s “Literatura
Fantasticului” [The Literature of Fantasy] appeared following the trans-
lation of several SF novels, in particular I.A. Yefremov’s Corăbii astrale
[Stellar Ships]. Over the next few years, novels would be published such
as V.A. Obruchev’s Țara lui Sannikov [Sannikov Land] and Plutonia,
translated in 1955 and 1956 respectively, A. Belyaev’s Omul amfibie [The
Amphibian Man] and Ariel, published in 1958 and 1959, accompanied by
the authors ranking high in the socialist realist hierarchy such as Aleksey
Tolstoy’s Aaelita, issued in 1958. In 1962, works such as H.G. Wells’s In-
sula doctorului Moreau [The Island of Doctor Moreau] and Mașina tim-
pului [The Time Machine] were also translated, his Oameni ca zeii [Men
Like Gods] closely following in 1964. Ray Bradbury’s 451’ Fahrenheit and
Soviet Genre Fiction vs. World Genre Fiction in Translation
It is easily observable in Graph 1 that the Soviet Union’s confidence in
Russian literature had a significant impact on the countries it occupied
after the year 1946. What Nailya Safiullina calls ‘the myth of soviet lit-
erature’ (2012, 562–567), which was put forward in the early 1920s and
which gained momentum in the socialist realism of the 1930s, emerged
in the states annexed by the Soviet Union after World War II alongside
socialist realism, eclipsing all other national literatures. An account giv-
en by a Saint Petersburg-based professor reveals this ‘myth of soviet lit-
erature’ as encapsulating a common belief among Soviet authorities that
Russian literature was “the best in the world and … a model for literatures
worldwide’ (Safiullina 2012, 563). Yet, for this to be accepted as an un-
disputed fact, external legitimation was necessary, and it came from au-
192 thors such as Romain Rolland, Henri Barbusse, André Malraux, Hein-
rich Mann, and André Gide, or through genre fiction by authors such as
Jack London and H.G. Wells. Indeed, as Safiullina notes, this legitima-
tion of Russian literature through foreign works proved useful to the se-
lected contemporary authors, albeit in a very short run. This was due to
the fact that their level of popularity among the readership in the Sovi-
et Union had never been high. Nor had they come close to destabiliz-
ing the positions of the already canonized Victor Hugo and Jules Verne
with the Russian literary hierarchy. This popularity among readers which
had risen prior to the establishment of socialist realism as a ‘shadow can-
on’ (Damrosch 2006, 45), was also a by-product of socialism’s reliance on
popular culture.
The Pragmatic Function of Children’s and Young Adult Literature
Among the Soviet authors translated between 1948 and 1965, some are
genre fiction writers par excellence. In 1951, Dan Petrașincu’s “Literatura
Fantasticului” [The Literature of Fantasy] appeared following the trans-
lation of several SF novels, in particular I.A. Yefremov’s Corăbii astrale
[Stellar Ships]. Over the next few years, novels would be published such
as V.A. Obruchev’s Țara lui Sannikov [Sannikov Land] and Plutonia,
translated in 1955 and 1956 respectively, A. Belyaev’s Omul amfibie [The
Amphibian Man] and Ariel, published in 1958 and 1959, accompanied by
the authors ranking high in the socialist realist hierarchy such as Aleksey
Tolstoy’s Aaelita, issued in 1958. In 1962, works such as H.G. Wells’s In-
sula doctorului Moreau [The Island of Doctor Moreau] and Mașina tim-
pului [The Time Machine] were also translated, his Oameni ca zeii [Men
Like Gods] closely following in 1964. Ray Bradbury’s 451’ Fahrenheit and
