Sergei Aksakov in England (on the problem of national identity)

Abstract

The article presents the assessment of S. Aksakov’s artistic heritage by English critics and writers. We prove that the Russian writer unites European cultures by using universal content. Along with the classics of Russian literature – I. Turgenev, L. Tolstoy and F. Dostoevsky, S. Aksakov’s prose has worldwide significance. The year 1991 was declared by UNESCO the Year of Sergei Aksakov. Aksakov’s “The Family Chronicle” was translated into German by Sergei Rachinsky and was highly praised by A. Herzen. After James Duff translated Aksakov’s trilogy into English, the writer, along with Turgenev, Tolstoy, Gogol and Chekhov, entered the “golden fund of world literature”. The special interest to Aksakov in England was noticeable both in the early 20^th century and in the 1980, when his works became bestsellers along with the works of famous Victorians. The article reveals the role of Dmitry Mirsky in popularizing Russian classics, as well as Virginia Woolf, according to whose testimony books by Russian authors Aksakov, Chekhov Turgenev and Dostoevsky found the most enthusiastic response among English readers. The article also touches upon the translation specifics of Aksakov’s works into English.