I was wondering about a quote from C. P. Snow in his book The Two Cultures:
“An engineer in a Soviet novel is as acceptable, so it seems, as a psychiatrist in an American one.”
Was this true? Snow wrote that in 1959. Why would psychiatrists (coded pessimistically) be more common in American novels and engineers (coded optimistically) be more common in Soviet ones?
First, was the claim accurate? It seems so. I found the popular novels of the 1950s from both countries and the difference is pretty clear.
American fiction centered on alienation, rebellion, emptiness, WWII, and psychological conflict:
- The Catcher in the Rye: A teen rejects society’s “phoniness” (and is in a mental institution).
- The Naked and the Dead: After WWII, soldiers continue to endure war’s brutality.
- The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit: A veteran feels trapped by suburban conformity.
- The Old Man and the Sea: An old fisherman battles a giant marlin and himself.
- Rabbit, Run: A former athlete abandons his family to escape emptiness.
- On the Road: Drifters chase freedom across America.
- Lolita: A predator’s obsession with a young girl.
- Invisible Man: A man’s struggle against racism and manipulation.
- Fahrenheit 451: A secret society against censorship.
- Atlas Shrugged: Innovators rebel against collectivist society.
Soviet fiction focused on engineers, builders, workers, WWII, and collective projects:
- How the Steel Was Tempered: A revolutionary sacrifices himself for communism.
- The Living and the Dead: Soviet soldiers survive the Nazi invasion.
- Not by Bread Alone: An engineer fights Soviet bureaucracy.
- The Thaw: Soviet society loosens after Stalin.
- Far from Moscow: Workers heroically build wartime infrastructure.
- Virgin Soil Upturned: Collectivization transforms the countryside.
- Two Captains: A young man pursues Arctic adventure and truth.
- People Are Not Angels: Soviets struggle with morality and duty.
- Cement: A veteran rebuilds industry and family life.
- Battle on the Road: Engineers clash over modernization and ideology.
A notable reason for the difference is the USSR’s ban on many types of literature. For example, absent from the list is Pasternak’s Dr. Zhivago, written in 1955 and smuggled out of Russia. Pasternak was awarded the Nobel for literature but had to decline, as his book was anti-Soviet.
So if pessimistic themes were kept out of Soviet literature, why did they find such popularity in the US?