Studia Litterarum

Ekaterina A. Stetsenko, DSc in Philology, Senior Researcher,  Ekaterina A. Stetsenko, DSc in Philology, Senior Researcher,   A.M.   Gorky   Institute   of   World   Literature   of   the   Russian   Academy   of   Sciences

This article deals with the interpretation of the works by Mark Twain, famous Ame- This article deals with the interpretation of the works by Mark Twain, famous American author, in the Russian pre-revolutionary periodical press (1872–1916). The objects   of research are critical articles, essays, reviews, correspondences, introductions to publica tions of Twain’s short stories and novels, obituaries, and other materials printed in central   and provincial magazines and newspapers. Perception of Twain in Russia was contingent   on many factors including political and cultural situation in the country, state of social   thought and literary criticism, newspaper and magazine conjuncture etc., always remain ing polysemantic and conflicting. In different times, in the years of democratic rising or   reaction critics looked for something in Twain’s works that corresponded to the spirit of   their time and helped solve ideological and aesthetic problems. Twain had reputation of   either a “pure humorist” or a great writer, philosopher, and moralist. Democrats, liberals,   conservatives, feminists, adepts of realistic or naturalistic trends in art discussed Twain’s  works that became a source of knowledge about the United States and inspired polemics   about Russia’s further development. Twain was highly esteemed as the author of books for   children and young people. Yet his works that criticized monarchism and imperialism were   often ignored or abridged. The history of Twain’s interpretation in the Russian press serves   as evidence of the fact that perception of foreign literature is a dynamic and bumpy pro cess, repeating itself and moving backwards but also getting to deeper levels of meanings.

 social and cultural situation

1 Vestnik Evropy. St. Petersburg, 1882, no 6. (In Russ.) 

2 Kas’yan A.K. Mark Tven v Rossii (1872–1966): avtoref. diss. … kand. filol. n. [Mark Twain    in Russia. PhD Diss. Synopsis]. Leningradskij gos. ped. in-t im. A.I. Gercena, 1967.    23 p. (In Russ.) 

3 Kas’yan A.K. Mark Tven i yumoristy satirikoncy  [Mark Twain and the    humorists-satiricons]. Ocherki po zarubezhnoj literature [Essays on foreign literature].    Irkutsk, 1970, vol. 1, pp. 30–35. (In Russ.) 

4 Levidova I.M. Mark Tven. Bibliograficheskij ukazatel’ russkih perevodov i kriticheskoj    literatury na russkom yazyke. 1867–1972 [Mark Twain. Bibliographical index of Russian    translations and critical literature in the Russian language. 1867–1972]. Moscow, 1974.    125 p. (In Russ.) 

5 Ctarcev A. Molodoj Tven v Rossii [Young Twain in Russia]. Tven M. Znamenitaya    skachushchaya lyagushka i drugie rasskazy  [Famous Jumping Frog and other sketches].    Moscow, Goslitizdat Publ., 1943. 137 p. (In Russ.) 

6 Teplinskaya N.M. Problemy naturalizma i romantizma v osveshchenii demokraticheskih    zhurnalov 70-h godov XIX veka [Problems of naturalism and Romanticism in the    interpretation of democratic magazines in the 1870s]. Russkaya zhurnalistika v    literaturnom processe vtoroj poloviny XIX veka [Russian Journalism in the literary process    th  of the second half of the 19   Century]. Perm’, 1978, vol. 2, pp. 53–64. (In Russ.)