Alexander Solzhenitsyn was one of the Cold War’s most iconic writers. This book offers an in-depth analysis of his reception in the US, UK, and Germany before and after 1991. Elisa Kriza skillfully explores how Solzhenitsyn’s work can be understood with the paradigm of witness literature and uncovers the dynamics behind the politicized reception of his writing.
From the mid-1980s onwards, Solzhenitsyn’s popularity dwindled—was this for ideological reasons? What about the rumors linking him with Russian nationalism? This study does not shy away from stretching beyond anti-communism and touching more contentious subjects—such as anti-feminism, anti-Semitism, and revisionism—in Solzhenitsyn’s work and reception.
Bringing Solzhenitsyn back from his ‘critical exile’ and redefining his work as memory culture, Kriza’s book is a crucial scholarly intervention, unveiling the mechanism that can transform a controversial figure into a moral icon.
About the author
Elisa Kriza, Ph D, Aarhus University, Denmark, has previously taught courses on dissident and émigré literature and on cultural encounters and conflicts. Her research focus lies on the interrelations of cultural output in international contexts
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