Abstract

The tale of how Edmund Wilson quarreled with Vladimir Nabokov over the latter’s 1964 translation of Eugene Onegin can be instructively read as a politically charged event, specifically a “high culture” allegory of the Cold War. Dissemination of anti-Communist ideals (often in liberal and literary guises) was the mandate of the Congress for Cultural Freedom, whose funding and editorial initiatives included the publication of both pre-Revolution Russian literature and, more notoriously, the journal Encounter (1953-1990), where Nabokov’s fiery “Reply” to Wilson appeared. This essay outlines the propaganda value of the Onegin debate within and to Cold War mythology.

Keywords: Nabokov, Wilson, translation, Pushkin, Onegin, Cold War

How to Cite:

Conley, T., (2014) “Eugene Onegin the Cold War Monument: How Edmund Wilson Quarreled with Vladimir Nabokov”, Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature 38(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.4148/2334-4415.1002