Alexander Solzhenitsyn: Cold War Icon, Gulag Author, Russian Nationalist?

By Andreas Umland

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 3838205898
• ISBN13: 9783838205892
• Release Date: October 2014
• Publisher: Ibidem Press
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 8.3"