Combination of steel and treacle. Vladimir Nabokov on Soviet Literature: New materials

DOI:

https://www.doi.org/10.22455/2541-8297-2017-3-8-65
Issue:

2017 №3
Author: Andrei A. Babikov
About the author:

Andrei A. Babikov, Russian émigré literature researcher, Moscow, Russia.

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Abstract:

This publication of Vladimir Nabokov’s archival materials presents annotated Russian translations of two lectures on Soviet drama (with excluded fragments and first variants) prepared by him for his Wellesley college course in 1941; his review “Soviet Literature 1940” written for the “Decision” journal (New York), but rejected by it; as well as other Nabokov’s statements on Soviet literature from the nineteen-forties and fifties. The publication substantially expands and deepens our understanding of the range of his reading interests at the time while allowing us to determine his opinions regarding Soviet literature, from belles lettres to the theater. It testifies to the interconnectedness of his opinions with those of such leading émigré critics as Georgy Adamovich and Vladislav Hodasevich not only in the area of émigré literature, but also in Russian literary studies in the USA. The publication is preceded by an introduction, which highlights many lesser-known and unknown issues and sources on the subject. The publication is provided with detailed notes.
Keywords: Vladimir Nabokov, archival materials, translation into Russian, theory of drama, émigré criticism, soviet literature, American Russian philology.
References:

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