The “Myth of Russia” in Travelogues about the USSR by Vincenzo Cardarelli and Corrado Alvaro

Abstract

The aim of the article is to study the functioning of the key components of the Western “myth of Russia” in travelogues by Italian writers, who visited the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1930s, in the period of frequent cultural, political and economic contacts between the two countries. The study is based on the analysis of the travelogues by Vincenzo Cardarelli (The Journey of a Poet in Russia, 1928-1929, published in 1954) and by Corrado Alvaro (The Masters of Deluge: A Journey to Soviet Russia, 1935). Among journalists working in the USSR in those years, famous writers enjoyed a certain degree of intellectual autonomy, compared to common reporters, and were less dependent on editorial policies and censorship that is why their travelogues are among the most interesting Italian testimonies about the USSR of that period. The analysis of the texts shows that in spite of many differences in ideology, travel itinerary, and the tone of writing, the travelogues of both authors are based on the same elements of the “Russian myth”, which formed in Europe during the 19th century and still shapes the Western image of Russia to a great extent. Relations between Russia and Italy are considered in the context of the East-West dichotomy, which makes the authors see Russia as a barbarian Asian country. This image together with the concept of the “Russian soul” generates a specific idea of the Russian national character, which describes Russians as collectivist, passive, fatalist, driven by a “nomadic instinct”, eager to suffer, primitive and close to nature, infantile. The analysis of the topoi of the official Fascist propaganda of that period demonstrates that elements of the “Russian myth” in the Italian travelogues interact with propaganda cliches and, consequently, come to serve certain political interests, creating in public consciousness the image of the Other and thus highlighting the superiority of the Western (and, particularly, Italian) civilization. The travelogues of the 1920s and 1930s, which criticize the Soviet reality, describe Bolshevism as a typically Russian phenomenon, and support nationalist and anti-Slavic trends in Italian society, are used by the Fascist authorities as an instrument of fight against Socialists, their main ideological opponents, and, consequently, provide legitimacy to Mussolini's regime. At the same time, visits of Italian intellectuals to the USSR increased public interest towards Soviet Russia and contributed to the development of cultural and, indirectly, political and economic contacts between the two countries.