The section is dedicated to the reflection on Soviet dissent developed within the Italian cultural world. This section is divided into four categories: Translations and publications, Personalities, Case study and Chronology of reception and is aimed at investigating the reception of Soviet dissent in Italy between 1956 and 1991 through the main translations and publications promoted by Italian publishing houses and periodicals, together with the testimonies of the intellectuals involved in the intercultural debate between Italy and the Soviet Union.
The first category Translations and publications is divided into two categories – Magazines and Publishing houses – and records the translations which were published in Italy from 1956 to 1991.
Magazines: in this category, four important literary and artistic journals have been recorded and described – such as “Europa Letteraria”, “La Fiera Letteraria”, “Tempo Presente” and “Archivio Domenicale del Sole 24ore” – which are relevant for analysis of the reception in Italy of Soviet dissent between 1956 and 1991. Of these periodical publications, a list of all contributions or a selection of them is provided (such as, for example, the Sunday issue of “Il Sole 24 ore”). In fact, each journal record is presented with a detailed table of the contributions organized by author, theme and bibliographic data.
The Magazine records are divided into the following fields: Title, Starting Date and Ending date, Place of publication, Editorial Committee, Total number of issues, Main collaborators, Description, Notes and Bibliography.
In the “Starting date” and “Ending date” fields, the chronological references are indicated within which the journal carried out its activity. Here, the years are reported (and, where possible, the months) as they are indicated in the issues. If the years reported in the issue differ from the effective date of publication, they have been placed between square brackets.
The “Place of publication” field indicates the city (or cities) in which the magazine was written.
The “Editorial Committee” field summarizes the data relating to the composition of the editorial committee and, where possible, information about changes of direction or editorial committee of special issues.
The “Main collaborators” field includes the names of the most frequent authors, and, sometimes, even of the redactors of specific sections of the magazines.
The “Description” field describes the magazine’s history, editorial trends, content organization, genres (essay, poetry, prose, translation, interviews), the main editors, any copyright information, the authors who collaborated with it and the most significant contributions from a historical-cultural point of view.
In the “Notes” field, reference is made to the primary source on which the report was made and possible technical observations on specific issues (typescripts, manuscripts, information on the availability of some issues).
In the “Bibliography” field, the main bibliographic sources consulted for the preparation of the record are reported, as well as useful for further information.
Publishing houses: here are recorded the publishing houses that were mostly involved in disseminating the Soviet culture of dissent in Italy. Within the records of the publishing houses, the following fields are reported: Dates, Place, Series of interest, Description and Bibliography. Some records contain a full list of the contributions (translations, monographies) concerning the thematic area of interest of the project. In general, the work carried out in the publishing houses was based mainly on bibliographic sources and, where possible, on archival collections of the examined publishing houses.
The “Date” field indicates the chronological references within which the publishing house carried out, or continues to carry out, its editorial activity.
The “Place of publication” field records the city (or cities) in which the publishing house was/is located.
The “Description” field contains information about the history of the publishing house, editorial trends, published genres and mostly represented authors.
The “Bibliography” field shows the main bibliographic sources consulted for redaction of the record, also useful for further in-depth analysis.
The Personalities category presents a list of intellectuals who gave voice to the culture of dissent in Italy and/or who are constantly related with it. Each record contains the following fields: Name, Surname, Date, Description, List of publications related to the topic of dissent, Bibliography.
The Case Study category examines the Italian reception through the analysis of the impact that important literary works coming from the USSR had on the Italian cultural panorama. Works such as Doctor Živago by Boris Pasternak and Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solženycin were therefore examined.
These records are organized in the following fields: Author, Place, Date, Description and Bibliography (with references to primary and critical literature).
Finally, the Chronology of the reception category is devoted to the chronology of the most important cultural events concerning the history of the reception of Soviet dissent in Italy from 1956 to the present day. [Translated by Ilaria Sicari]