EasterBlack-owned or founded brands at TargetGroceryClothing, Shoes & AccessoriesBabyHomeFurnitureKitchen & DiningOutdoor Living & GardenToysElectronicsVideo GamesMovies, Music & BooksSports & OutdoorsBeautyPersonal CareHealthPetsHousehold EssentialsArts, Crafts & SewingSchool & Office SuppliesParty SuppliesLuggageGift IdeasGift CardsClearanceTarget New ArrivalsTarget Finds#TargetStyleTop DealsTarget Circle DealsWeekly AdShop Order PickupShop Same Day DeliveryRegistryRedCardTarget CircleFind Stores

Invading the American Canon - (Literatures, Cultures, Translation) by Muireann Maguire (Hardcover)

Invading the American Canon - (Literatures, Cultures, Translation) by  Muireann Maguire (Hardcover) - 1 of 1
$110.00 when purchased online
Target Online store #3991

About this item

Highlights

  • Through case studies ofémigré literary translators and editors, this open access book traces how Russian literature kindled the American imagination in the 20th century.In the 19th century, American literature was invaded by great Russian novels, including the works of Turgenev, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Gorky, and others, all mediated, translated, and sometimes even discovered by devoted freelance translators like Isabel Hapgood, Leo Wiener, and Nathan Haskell Dole.
  • About the Author: Muireann Maguire is Professor in Russian and Comparative Literature at the University of Exeter, UK.
  • 192 Pages
  • Literary Criticism, Russian + Former Soviet Union
  • Series Name: Literatures, Cultures, Translation

Description



About the Book



Explores how Russian literature kindled the American imagination in the 20th century, told through case studies of émigré literary translators and editors.



Book Synopsis



Through case studies ofémigré literary translators and editors, this open access book traces how Russian literature kindled the American imagination in the 20th century.

In the 19th century, American literature was invaded by great Russian novels, including the works of Turgenev, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Gorky, and others, all mediated, translated, and sometimes even discovered by devoted freelance translators like Isabel Hapgood, Leo Wiener, and Nathan Haskell Dole. Throughout the 1900s these translators made Russian literature, from Nobel prizewinners like Solzhenitsyn to obscure émigrés like Mark Aldanov, accessible to American readers. Some literary translators were also publishers, like Nicholas Wreden (1901-55), at different times a bookseller at Scribner's, an editor at E.P. Dutton and a publishing executive at Little, Brown. His style was so well-regarded that Hemingway wished he wrote in Russian so that Wreden could translate him. He was also a lumberjack, a trainee naval officer and an émigré who fled Russia in 1920 to become a naturalized American citizen. Uniquely, as a translator and as a publisher, Wreden helped determine which Russian novels the American public would read.

This book tells Wreden's story. It also reconstructs, using archival sources, the lives of other extraordinary translator-publishers like Thomas Seltzer, Bernard Guilbert Guerney, and Carl Proffer, who, with his wife Ellendea, ran Ardis Publishers, the firm that brought Soviet writing to the US. Invading the American Canon tells the history of the translation of Russian literature in America and its changing critical reception over a hundred turbulent years.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by aEuropean Research Council Horizon 2020 Starting Grant (grant agreement no. 802437)



Review Quotes




Maguire's meticulously researched, informative and comprehensive study creates an impressive account of translation history of Russophone literature in America while also paying attention to translators' literary taste, ideological beliefs, and networks. This book provides a broad understanding of Russophone literary history in its global context. Insightful and engaging, Invading the American Canonwill be of significant interest to scholars and students specializing in translation studies, Russian Studies, comparative literature, and cultural history.
Alexandra Smith, Reader in Russian Studies, University of Edinburgh, UK

This is a ground-breaking study of the forces that brought Russian literature to the American public. Maguire takes her readers behind the scenes, introducing a cast of diverse, unforgettable characters: writers, translators, editors, publishers, agents, booksellers, critics, and scholars. Sometimes collaborating, sometimes clashing, they navigated daunting obstacles in a decades-long process that changed American literature. Featuring a lively, engaging style, this book represents a significant contribution to literary and translation studies, and, importantly, to the ever-evolving, ever-fraught American history of immigration.
Carol Apollonio, Research Professor of Slavic and Eurasian Studies, Duke University, USA

This is an engaging and authoritative history of Russian literature in translation in the United States, and how Russian literature came to occupy such a central place in the American canon of translated literature. Maguire anchors her story on the remarkable career of Nicholas Wreden, and as her account shows, given Wreden's outsized role in popularizing Russian literature, it is puzzling that this is the first time his story has been told.
Ronald Meyer, Harriman Institute and Department of Slavic Languages, Columbia University, USA



About the Author



Muireann Maguire is Professor in Russian and Comparative Literature at the University of Exeter, UK. She is the author of Stalin's Ghosts: Gothic Themes in Early Soviet Language (2021), and co-editor of Translating Russian Literature in the Global Context (forthcoming, 2024) and Reading Backwards: An Advance Retrospective on Russian Literature (2021). She is also an active freelance translator from Russian to English.
Dimensions (Overall): 8.5 Inches (H) x 5.5 Inches (W) x .63 Inches (D)
Weight: .97 Pounds
Suggested Age: 22 Years and Up
Number of Pages: 192
Genre: Literary Criticism
Sub-Genre: Russian + Former Soviet Union
Series Title: Literatures, Cultures, Translation
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Format: Hardcover
Author: Muireann Maguire
Language: English
Street Date: October 2, 2025
TCIN: 1005652067
UPC: 9798765121917
Item Number (DPCI): 247-45-9340
Origin: Made in the USA or Imported

Shipping details

Estimated ship dimensions: 0.63 inches length x 5.5 inches width x 8.5 inches height
Estimated ship weight: 0.97 pounds
We regret that this item cannot be shipped to PO Boxes.
This item cannot be shipped to the following locations: American Samoa (see also separate entry under AS), Guam (see also separate entry under GU), Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico (see also separate entry under PR), United States Minor Outlying Islands, Virgin Islands, U.S., APO/FPO

Return details

This item can be returned to any Target store or Target.com.
This item must be returned within 90 days of the date it was purchased in store, shipped, delivered by a Shipt shopper, or made ready for pickup.
See the return policy for complete information.

Related Categories

Get top deals, latest trends, and more.

Privacy policy

Footer

About Us

About TargetCareersNews & BlogTarget BrandsBullseye ShopSustainability & GovernancePress CenterAdvertise with UsInvestorsAffiliates & PartnersSuppliersTargetPlus

Help

Target HelpReturnsTrack OrdersRecallsContact UsFeedbackAccessibilitySecurity & FraudTeam Member ServicesLegal & Privacy

Stores

Find a StoreClinicPharmacyTarget OpticalMore In-Store Services

Services

Target Circle™Target Circle™ CardTarget Circle 360™Target AppRegistrySame Day DeliveryOrder PickupDrive UpFree 2-Day ShippingShipping & DeliveryMore Services
PinterestFacebookInstagramXYoutubeTiktokTermsCA Supply ChainPrivacy PolicyCA Privacy RightsYour Privacy ChoicesInterest Based AdsHealth Privacy Policy