BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF OUR PROJECT
Our work is carried out within the framework of the PRIN (Progetto di Ricerca di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale, Research Project of National Interest), in line with the objectives of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR, Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza) and the Next Generation EU fund. We aim to analyse the reception of three European literatures – British, French and Italian – in the Stalinist USSR (1929 – 1952) through the study of paratexts relating to literary translations produced during this period.
Starting from the assumption that paratexts – in particular prefaces, critical essays, reviews, editorial notes and teaching materials relating to the translated works – profoundly influence the perception of foreign texts in the target cultures, this project investigates how these liminal elements were used to shape the European literary imagination within a totalitarian state.
Although various translations of European authors were available in the USSR, their literary production was always filtered through ideology and subject to strict institutional control. In this context, paratexts became privileged sources of information for Soviet readers, although they were often manipulated: sometimes to conform to the regime’s official ideology or, conversely, to circumvent censorship by introducing new ideas.
The main objective of our project is to investigate the intertwining of Soviet cultural policy directives and the individual stances of the paratexts’ authors, which in some cases show deviations or divergences from the ideological dictates.
On this platform, you can consult:
- A summary and a digitized selection of significant paratexts related to the translations of works from the three European literatures; information on the authors of the paratexts and translations; on the translators and writers; and on how the paratexts reflect the ideological directives of the period and the individual positions of their authors;
- A collection of directives on Soviet literary policy, taken from magazines such as “Literaturnaya Gazeta”, “Literaturniy Kritik” and “Internatsionalnaya Literatura”;
- The publications and scientific dissemination activities (Events) carried out within the framework of the project
