Ernest Hemingway in the Soviet Union

FAIN: FT-264476-19

Frederick Hal White
Utah Valley University (Orem, UT 84058-0001)

Research and writing leading to publication of a literary and historical study about the translation, reception and popularity of works by American author Ernest Hemingway in the Soviet Union, from the 1930s to the 1990s.

Ernest Hemingway’s translated works enjoyed immense popularity in the Soviet Union. In the 1930s, the Soviet government had hoped to co-opt Hemingway as a supporter of the Soviet experiment, but his true impact was realized in the 1960s as a counter-culture figure representing the American ideal of personal liberty. Even so, Hemingway was afforded in 1971 a “Soviet biography” fitting for a Soviet writer. Of particular interest are the ways in which Soviet cultural appropriations of American cultural figures played a role in the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union. This work explores the Soviet aspects of the translation, interpretation and consecration of Hemingway. The Soviet Union first accepted Hemingway for their own political and social agenda (antifascism), only some thirty years later to find that he represented the ideals of personal freedom that Soviet citizens desired, undermining the official positive pronouncements about the collective.

Media Coverage

UVU professor awarded stipend to research Hemingway's influence in Soviet Union (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Barb Smith
Publication: UVU.edu
Date: 5/5/2019
Abstract: Frederick White, Utah Valley University professor of Russian and integrated studies, was recently awarded a summer stipend from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support his research on the author Ernest Hemingway and his influence within the Soviet Union.
URL: http://https://www.uvu.edu/news/2019/05/05202019_fredwhite.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=fred+white&utm_term=news+at+uvu&utm_content=uvu&utm_campaign=digital-marketing&fbclid=IwAR1wVQ1vrD0Juye1QlEePfDYXgYQFHn-rmJNLyXs40R3_KLsMm1IyqIrBSk

Associated Products

Ernest Hemingway in the Soviet Union (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Ernest Hemingway in the Soviet Union
Abstract: Welcome to a special talk by Dr. Frederick H. White, Professor of Russian and Integrated Studies at Utah Valley University. Influenced by the theories of Pierre Bourdieu and Pascale Casanova, this lecture explores the role of the scholar and translator in consecrating the work of Ernest Hemingway for the Soviet literary market. Ivan Kashkin (1899-1963) was the leading translator of the American writer’s work into Russian, including a two-volume edition of selected works in 1959, and the author of the influential critical-biography, Ernest Hemingway, published in Moscow in 1966. Translation is a crucial element in the attainment of literary capital beyond the author’s national borders, therefore Kashkin’s publications legitimized Hemingway’s literary works within the Soviet Union as early as 1934. This lecture will concentrate on Hemingway’s introduction to the Soviet market in the 1930s; his exclusion from it due to the novel For Whom the Bell Tolls; Kashkin’s “re-reading” of Hemingway in the 1950s, and publication of his Soviet biography in 1971. Speaker’s bio: Dr. Frederick H. White is Professor of Russian and Integrated Studies at Utah Valley University. He has published six books and over thirty academic articles on Russian literature, film and culture. He is one of the leading specialists on the writer Leonid Andreev and has published in the areas of Russian Modernism, psychology and literature in the Russian fin de siècle, the economics of culture and post-Soviet cinema. Recently, he has published a book of memoirs, interviews, scholarly essays and biographical documents that relate to the recently deceased filmmaker Aleksei Balabanov. At present, he is working on a book provisionally titled Hemingway in the Soviet Union, which concentrates on the efforts made by Soviet literary agents to interest the American author in the Soviet experiment. #talk #culture #literature
Author: Frederick H. White
Date: 06/21/2019
Location: The American Center, Moscow Russia
Primary URL: http://https://amc.timepad.ru/event/995896/?fbclid=IwAR1yvcKPhdCOP1pUT_JkQ7p4XrNwypIpFdS--fDsPvzhB9mr2bIXoltLUXE

Ernest Hemingway in the Soviet Union (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Ernest Hemingway in the Soviet Union
Abstract: Come learn about Ernest Hemingway's introduction to the Soviet market in the 1930s and his exclusion from it due to the novel "For Whom the Bell Tolls." With special guest speaker Dr Frederick H. White.
Author: Frederick H. White
Date: 08/04/2019
Location: Utah Students Studying Russian, University of Utah
Primary URL Description: I have a copy of the digital poster used to advertise the event. This was sponsored by the student association at the University of Utah and no longer has a live link.

Ernest Hemingway in the Soviet Union (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Ernest Hemingway in the Soviet Union
Abstract: This lecture explores the role of the scholar and translator in consecrating Ernest Hemingway for the Soviet literary market. Ivan Kashkin (1899-1963) was the leading translator of the American writer’s work into Russian, as early as 1934, and published a two-volume edition of selected works in 1959. Specific attention will be given to Hemingway’s introduction to the Soviet market in the 1930s; his exclusion from it after 1940 due to the novel For Whom the Bell Tolls; Kashkin’s “re-reading” of Hemingway in the 1950s, and publication of the American author’s Soviet biography in 1971.
Author: Frederick H. White
Date: 01/30/2020
Location: Roots of Knowledge Speaker Series, Fulton Library, Utah Valley University
Primary URL: https://www.uvu.edu/rootsofknowledge/events.html
Primary URL Description: This is the "events" website. I have the digital poster for the event if you would like a copy of this.

The Most Outstanding Work of an Idealistic Tendency: Hemingway, Pasternak and the 1958 Nobel Prize for Literature (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: The Most Outstanding Work of an Idealistic Tendency: Hemingway, Pasternak and the 1958 Nobel Prize for Literature
Author: Frederick H. White
Abstract: Soon after Ernest Hemingway won the Nobel Prize, his works returned to the Soviet literary market. However, cultural relations between the United States and the USSR were disrupted when Boris Pasternak was selected for the prize in 1958. This article examines Hemingway’s reaction to Pasternak’s refusal of the prize, as well as his understanding of Giangiacomo Feltrinelli’s role in the publication of Doctor Zhivago abroad. In so doing, the precarious position of the author will be highlighted in order to demonstrate that while Hemingway became an iconic figure in the USSR, Pasternak was simultaneously denied similar accolades for his cultural production.
Date: 04/25/2019
Primary URL: http://rggu.com/
Primary URL Description: Keynote address, “The Most Outstanding Work of an Idealistic Tendency: Hemingway, Pasternak and the 1958 Nobel Prize for Literature,” Humanities+ 2019, The Russian-American Academic Center at the Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, Russia, 25-26 April 2019.
Conference Name: Humanities+ 2019, The Russian-American Academic Center at the Russian State University for the Humanities

A Soviet Biography for Ernest Hemingway (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: A Soviet Biography for Ernest Hemingway
Author: Frederick H. White
Abstract: Ernest Hemingway’s inclusion among the heroes of the Soviet Union is meaningful beyond the author’s own world-wide fame. Symbolically, it was the moment when the most-American of authors gained a Soviet biography; when Hemingway was fully and completely co-opted into the Soviet literary space. Understanding that Hemingway would not achieve political consciousness in the Socialist Realist sense, Gribanov positioned his subject as an independent writer and journalist dedicated to telling the truth, often to the detriment of his personal and professional relationships. This interpretation was original given preceding Soviet interpretation of the American author and his works. It was also somewhat risky within the context of the trial of the writers Andrei Siniavskii and Yulii Daniel. In this paper, I will argue that with such an approach, Gribanov positioned the author as an independent truth-teller, in the face of political ideologies and repressive governments, appealing to avid readers of Hemingway as well as to a Soviet readership taught to read between the lines.
Date: 11/24/2019
Primary URL: https://convention2.allacademic.com/one/aseees/aseees19/index.php?click_key=1&obf_var=2770967&PHPSESSID=a4h2ne3tra9p89r5g7gvid0qo4
Primary URL Description: “A Soviet Biography for Ernest Hemingway,” Soviet Interpretations of Western Culture, ASEEES, San Francisco, CA, 23-26 November 2019.
Conference Name: ASSOCIATION FOR SLAVIC AND EAST EUROPEAN STUDIES

Soviet Critics’ Response to Ernest Hemingway’s Emerging Social Consciousness (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Soviet Critics’ Response to Ernest Hemingway’s Emerging Social Consciousness
Author: Frederick H. White
Abstract: Between 1936 and 1939 Ernest Hemingway began to display a political commitment that made him attractive to left-leaning American critics and to Soviet cultural merchants. His former contempt for any ideology and a willingness to expose the sham made his public image even more salient once he became an outspoken antifascist. Hemingway’s departure for Spain as a news correspondent to cover the Spanish Civil War was praised in the Soviet Union, where there was some anticipation that the author would move beyond the pessimism, skepticism and individualism that had been noted in his early literary works. “The Chauffeurs of Madrid” appeared in the journal Abroad (Za rubezhom) on 25 June 1937. The novel To Have and Have Not was published in October 1937 and a Russian translation soon followed in International Literature (Internatsional’naia literatura) with a tentatively positive response from Soviet critics. A portion of his film script, The Spanish Earth, was published in the newspaper Izvestiia on 29 December 1937. The entire film script was published in International Literature in 1938. Yet, it was Hemingway’s play, The Fifth Column that was met with unanimous enthusiasm. It was translated into Russian and published in the first number of International Literature for 1939. This paper will examine in some detail Hemingway’s emerging social consciousness and the positive response of his Soviet critics that validated their earlier efforts to co-opt the American author for the Soviet experiment.
Date: 02/08/2020
Primary URL: https://www.aatseel.org/cfp_program_2020
Primary URL Description: “Soviet Critics’ Response to Ernest Hemingway’s Emerging Social Consciousness,” In 1937: Exile and Foreign Authors in Distant Lands, AATSEEL, San Diego, CA, 6-9 February 2020.
Conference Name: AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS OF SLAVIC AND EAST EUROPEAN LANGUAGES

The Most Outstanding Work of an Idealistic Tendency: Hemingway, Pasternak, and the 1958 Nobel Prize for Literature (Article)
Title: The Most Outstanding Work of an Idealistic Tendency: Hemingway, Pasternak, and the 1958 Nobel Prize for Literature
Author: Frederick H. White
Abstract: Soon after Ernest Hemingway won the Nobel Prize, his works returned to the Soviet literary market. However, cultural relations between the United States and the USSR were disrupted when Boris Pasternak was selected for the prize in 1958. This article examines Hemingway’s reaction to Pasternak’s refusal of the prize, as well as his understanding of Giangiacomo Feltrinelli’s role in the publication of Doctor Zhivago abroad. It also explores the precarious position of authors in literary markets by examining how Hemingway became an iconic figure in the USSR, while Pasternak was simultaneously denied similar accolades for his work.
Year: 2020
Primary URL: https://www.hemingwaysociety.org/hemingway-review
Primary URL Description: The Hemingway Review is the publication of the Hemingway Society
Secondary URL: https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/275
Secondary URL Description: You can access the journal through Project Muse
Access Model: Subscription
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: The Hemingway Review, vol 40, no. 1 (Fall 2020): 10-28

Hemingway and the Spanish Civil War (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Hemingway and the Spanish Civil War
Author: Frederick H. White
Abstract: Ernest Hemingway reached the height of his literary popularity within the Soviet Union during the Spanish Civil war. His literary works and war correspondence of this period were almost immediately translated into Russian and published in Soviet periodicals. Unlike the American Hemingway who was most often associated for western readers with 1920s Paris, bullfighting, and African safaris. The Soviet Hemingway was an ardent anti-fascist and supporter of Republican Spain. After all, this was the Spain of Mikhail Kol’tsov’s Spanish Diary and the final romantic period of the world revolution, before Stalin’s Great Terror could completely dampen that spirit. In this paper, I will elucidate the Soviet fascination with Hemingway during the period 1936-1940, when Hemingway seemed to experience his political awakening, seemed to move to the left and seemed to identify with the Communists as the only ones who could bring order to Republican Spain.
Date: 11/05/2020
Primary URL: https://sosso.secure-platform.com/api/aseees2020.secure-platform.com/LoginPrompt?returnUrl=https%3a%2f%2faseees2020.secure-platform.com%2fa%2faccount%2fvalidatethirdpartycorporateauthresult%3fredirectUrl%3d%252Fa%252Fgallery%252Frounds%252F3%252Fschedule%
Primary URL Description: This year the American Association of Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies held its national convention on-line. This paper was part of a panel titled: Foreigners in the Soviet Union How do people communicate across cultures? In the Soviet Union the exchange of culture with the West was often fraught, especially when deciding who to acknowledge for the Soviet literary market. Soviet translators, scholars and critics were often the arbiters of which authors seemed to support Soviet policy. The papers in this panel proposal explore various aspects of this process of cultural selection.
Secondary URL: https://www.aseees.org/convention
Secondary URL Description: Organization website
Conference Name: American Association of Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies, annual national convention

“The Most Outstanding Work of an Idealistic Tendency: Hemingway, Pasternak and the 1958 Nobel Prize for Literature.” (Article)
Title: “The Most Outstanding Work of an Idealistic Tendency: Hemingway, Pasternak and the 1958 Nobel Prize for Literature.”
Author: Frederick H. White
Abstract: Soon after Ernest Hemingway won the Nobel Prize, his works returned to the Soviet literary market. However, cultural relations between the United States and the USSR were disrupted when Boris Pasternak was selected for the prize in 1958. This article examines Hemingway’s reaction to Pasternak’s refusal of the prize, as well as his understanding of Giangiacomo Feltrinelli’s role in the publication of Doctor Zhivago abroad. It also explores the precarious position of authors in literary markets by examining how Hemingway became an iconic figure in the USSR, while Pasternak was simultaneously denied similar accolades for his work.
Year: 2020
Secondary URL: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/774390
Access Model: Subscription
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: The Hemingway Review
Publisher: The Hemingway Foundation and Society

“Ideological Profit: Hemingway, Kol’tsov and the Spanish Civil War” (Article)
Title: “Ideological Profit: Hemingway, Kol’tsov and the Spanish Civil War”
Author: Frederick H. White
Abstract: Ernest Hemingway’s popularity within the Soviet Union was connected to his participation in the Spanish Civil War. These activities were facilitated by Mikhail Kol’tsov, the Soviet foreign correspondent and Joseph Stalin’s unofficial man in Spain. This article examines the relationship of these two charismatic figures and suggests that much of Hemingway’s perception of events in Spain were sculpted by Soviet agents during the final, idealistic period of world revolution. For the Soviet Union, Hemingway’s anti-Fascist cultural production would be converted into ideological profits for internal and external audiences, marking the Soviet Hemingway as distinct from his western image.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/837299
Access Model: Subscription
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: The Hemingway Review
Publisher: The Hemingway Foundation and Society

Ivan Kashkin and the late-Soviet Hemingway (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Ivan Kashkin and the late-Soviet Hemingway
Author: Frederick H. White
Abstract: Itamar Even-Zohar has queried, what if the translated work maintains the central position within a literary polysystem and influences the literary history of another country? Ernest Hemingway was “rediscovered” during Nikita Khrushchev’s reengagement with the West and became a ubiquitous cultural figure with his portrait found in Soviet apartments during the 1960s and ‘70s. Ivan Kashkin and his school of translators first offered Hemingway to Soviet readers in 1934, but it was his posthumously published Ernest Hemingway. A Critical-Biographical Study (1966), which significantly informed the first Soviet biography (1970) of the American author. In this paper, I will focus on Kashkin and this late-Soviet version of Hemingway. Kashkin had equated the inner lives of Hemingway’s characters with the author himself. As a result, when Soviet readers found characters who directly reflected their own outlook on life, their inner world seemed to align with Hemingway’s. Readers could empathize with Hemingway in ways that they might not with Count Lev Tolstoi or the cosmopolitan writer Il’ia Ehrenburg. Because this reading was so personalized, there was a connection with an author who also offered an escape from the Soviet reality. In 1985, Sergei Davlotov argued that Hemingway had somehow become embedded in various spheres of daily Soviet life. His books were prominently displayed in most homes of the Soviet intelligentsia. His portraits frequently appeared in popular journals. For a generation of Soviet youth, it was even trendy to quote from Hemingway’s works. Despite the dissimilarities, Hemingway had become a Soviet writer.
Date: 03/26/2021
Primary URL: https://networks.h-net.org/node/4555727/discussions/7437698/literary-classics-and-intellectual-autonomy-soviet-world-1920s
Conference Name: Literary Classics and Intellectual Autonomy in the Soviet World

Kheminguei i NKVD (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Kheminguei i NKVD
Author: Frederick H. White
Abstract: Ernest Hemingway and the NKVD Was Ernest Hemingway a Soviet spy and if so, why? Documents have revealed that Hemingway was recruited as an NKVD source in 1941. He was assigned the codename “Argo” and met with Soviet agents several times in the following years, but never provided the Soviets with any valuable information. In this paper, I will suggest a plausible answer for why Hemingway might have worked with the NKVD. During the Spanish Civil War, Hemingway was friends with the Soviet documentarian Roman Karmen, journalists Mikhail Kol’tsov and Ilya Ehrenburg, NKVD Station Chief Alexander Orlov and others. I will concentrate on Hemingway’s relationship with Kol’tsov to suggest that that Hemingway had benefited greatly from this relationship and possibly saw his work with the NKVD as a continuation of his work in Spain.
Date: 11/10/2021
Primary URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7cfdtO8nkE&list=PLHh-tsZYpcD--Qo6wyqop4w_0FxsMLGqx&index=7&t=589s
Primary URL Description: The conference was held in Moscow but I participated via zoom.
Conference Name: Zapadno-Sovetskie literaturnye kontakty (1917-1990), Institiut mirovoi literatury im. A.M. Gor’kogo RAN

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