The First Encounter: “Negro American Literature” in the Soviet Literary Criticism of the 1920s
Soviet leaders and Comintern stressed the importance of the “Negro problem” in the struggle against American imperialism; African American literature was considered a part of the “battlefield” as well, so an ideologically bound image of “American Negro literature” was on the agenda. First translatio...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences
2019-12-01
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| Series: | Studia Litterarum |
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| Online Access: | http://studlit.ru/images/2019-4-4/Panova.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818758928615342080 |
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| author | Olga Yu. Panova |
| author_facet | Olga Yu. Panova |
| author_sort | Olga Yu. Panova |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Soviet leaders and Comintern stressed the importance of the “Negro problem” in the struggle against American imperialism; African American literature was considered a part of the “battlefield” as well, so an ideologically bound image of “American Negro literature” was on the agenda. First translations of African American literature appear in the early 1920s together with its first reviews and essays (some of them by reputed critics like Ivan Kashkin, Segrei Dinamov, Nikolay Efros). The key figures of the decade were W.E.B. DuBois, Walter White, Jessie R. Fauset, and Claude McKay. McKay’s reputation in the USSR underwent a considerable change during the 1920s: introduced as a revolutionary writer and a “friend of the Soviet Union”, in the late 1902s he was stigmatized as a “petty bourgeois Black nationalist”. Soviet critics analyzed the phenomenon of “Harlem school”, and “the whites writing up the Black” (Carl Van Vechten, Howard W. Odum, Michael Gold, Albert Halper, etc.). The paper traces changes in the vision of African American literature, that lead to new demands set forth in the 1930s and is based on publications of American and Soviet press of the 1920s and archived documents. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T06:34:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bc8264131c4142f9a8f2a17485e1b527 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2500-4247 2541-8564 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T06:34:37Z |
| publishDate | 2019-12-01 |
| publisher | A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Studia Litterarum |
| spelling | doaj.art-bc8264131c4142f9a8f2a17485e1b5272022-12-21T21:17:49ZengA.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of SciencesStudia Litterarum2500-42472541-85642019-12-01449812510.22455/2500-4247-2019-4-4-98-125The First Encounter: “Negro American Literature” in the Soviet Literary Criticism of the 1920sOlga Yu. Panova0A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of SciencesSoviet leaders and Comintern stressed the importance of the “Negro problem” in the struggle against American imperialism; African American literature was considered a part of the “battlefield” as well, so an ideologically bound image of “American Negro literature” was on the agenda. First translations of African American literature appear in the early 1920s together with its first reviews and essays (some of them by reputed critics like Ivan Kashkin, Segrei Dinamov, Nikolay Efros). The key figures of the decade were W.E.B. DuBois, Walter White, Jessie R. Fauset, and Claude McKay. McKay’s reputation in the USSR underwent a considerable change during the 1920s: introduced as a revolutionary writer and a “friend of the Soviet Union”, in the late 1902s he was stigmatized as a “petty bourgeois Black nationalist”. Soviet critics analyzed the phenomenon of “Harlem school”, and “the whites writing up the Black” (Carl Van Vechten, Howard W. Odum, Michael Gold, Albert Halper, etc.). The paper traces changes in the vision of African American literature, that lead to new demands set forth in the 1930s and is based on publications of American and Soviet press of the 1920s and archived documents.http://studlit.ru/images/2019-4-4/Panova.pdfamerican literary historyafrican american literaturesoviet-american literary connectionssoviet literary criticismw.e.b. duboisclaude mckaywalter whitejessie r. fausetcarl van vechtenpolitics of literaturetranslationpublishing strategiessoviet periodicalsarchived materials |
| spellingShingle | Olga Yu. Panova The First Encounter: “Negro American Literature” in the Soviet Literary Criticism of the 1920s Studia Litterarum american literary history african american literature soviet-american literary connections soviet literary criticism w.e.b. dubois claude mckay walter white jessie r. fauset carl van vechten politics of literature translation publishing strategies soviet periodicals archived materials |
| title | The First Encounter: “Negro American Literature” in the Soviet Literary Criticism of the 1920s |
| title_full | The First Encounter: “Negro American Literature” in the Soviet Literary Criticism of the 1920s |
| title_fullStr | The First Encounter: “Negro American Literature” in the Soviet Literary Criticism of the 1920s |
| title_full_unstemmed | The First Encounter: “Negro American Literature” in the Soviet Literary Criticism of the 1920s |
| title_short | The First Encounter: “Negro American Literature” in the Soviet Literary Criticism of the 1920s |
| title_sort | first encounter negro american literature in the soviet literary criticism of the 1920s |
| topic | american literary history african american literature soviet-american literary connections soviet literary criticism w.e.b. dubois claude mckay walter white jessie r. fauset carl van vechten politics of literature translation publishing strategies soviet periodicals archived materials |
| url | http://studlit.ru/images/2019-4-4/Panova.pdf |
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