“Distant Countries about Which We Know Little”
The Politicized Reception of East European Literature, 1946–1989
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
For large parts of the Western European reading public, Eastern Europe remained terra incognita after the Second World War. The countries behind the “Iron Curtain” were perceived as the “Eastern Bloc”. Specific cultural and historical traditions that were formative for authors of individual national literatures were often of little interest to Western readers. Nonetheless, literature from Eastern Europe was translated, published, and read in the German-speaking world during this period. Decisive for this were, on the one hand, the discussion of the Soviet camps and criticism of the system among disappointed Marxists and, on the other hand, an “existentialist” tone that Western readers believed they found in Eastern European texts. In every instance, the author’s biography and personal point of view played a decisive role in how a book was received.
(Osteuropa 1-3/2025, pp. 211–228)