Abstract
Quite a number of Russian writers could not accept the October Revolution in 1917 and left the country. Their nostalgia for their motherland in emigration is a well-known fact. The Russian-born American writer Ayn Rand (1905–1982) was also driven out of Soviet Russia by a hatred for communism, yet her nostalgia is of a different kind. The purpose of this study is to describe the nature of Ayn Rand’s nostalgia. Discovering, on arrival in the U.S., a reality different from the image she bore in her mind, she did not start missing her homeland but continued longing for her ideal—19th century America. This ideal is fully reflected in her self-made philosophy known as “objectivism”, which underlies her novel Atlas Shrugged. Though philosophically substantiated, the ideal appears to be embodied in trivial myths of the American mass consciousness. The study highlights four of the most popular national myths in her novel. As a result, Rand’s literary works represent popular literature that are not within the mainstream of the Russian émigré literature of that period.
Highlights
The theme of nostalgia in literature is most relevant with émigré writers
Owing to great historical cataclysms in the first half of the 20th century, Russia produced a number of prominent émigré writers
As Rand’s nostalgia for an imaginary 19th century America was fed by myths of the American mass consciousness, the present study resorted to the myths outlined by the Russian literary critics Zverev (1991), Morozova (1982), and Cherchesov (1991) in their work on modern American popular literature
Summary
The theme of nostalgia in literature is most relevant with émigré writers. Owing to great historical cataclysms in the first half of the 20th century, Russia produced a number of prominent émigré writers. As Rand’s nostalgia for an imaginary 19th century America was fed by myths of the American mass consciousness, the present study resorted to the myths outlined by the Russian literary critics Zverev (1991), Morozova (1982), and Cherchesov (1991) in their work on modern American popular literature. The conclusions that the present study arrived at are that Rand’s nostalgia has some individual peculiarities, yet, in its core, is typical since it is based on myth-making, Rand’s major novel, resorting to popular myths of the national American consciousness, can be classified as popular literature, remaining beyond the mainstream of the Russian émigré literature of that period
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