A Soviet Journey
![]() First edition (publ. Progress Publishers | |
Author | Alex La Guma |
---|---|
Subject | Soviet Union, Travel |
Published | 1978 |
Publisher | Progress Publishers |
Publication place | South African |
OCLC | 6200549 |
A Soviet Journey is a 1978 travelogue by South African socialist Alex La Guma.[1] Writing in the early 90s, critic Roger Field described the book as one of the under-examined works from La Guma's corpus, because of his reputation as a fiction writer first, and the political nature of Western academics commenting on a book title "Soviet" during the Cold War.[1]
The novel has significant references and comparisons to the works and travels of Ernest Hemingway.[2] The book also reflects substantially on the influence of other works of literary modernism on his own writing.[3]
Biographical context
[edit]La Guma's trip also has ties to other parts of his life: when La Guma, was a child, his father had taken a trip to the Soviet Union, and La Guma knew both mentors contemporaries from the anti-apartheid community in South Africa who had visited the Soviet Union.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Field, Roger (1994-01-01). "Fellow Travellers in an Antique Land: La Guma and Uncle Lenin". Social Dynamics. 20 (1): 93–120. doi:10.1080/02533959408458563. ISSN 0253-3952.
- ^ Martin Klammer; Blanche La Guma (1 June 2011). Alex la Guma: A Literary & Political Biography. Jacana Media. p. 208. ISBN 978-1-77009-888-6.
- ^ The Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Fiction. John Wiley & Sons. 8 December 2010. p. 1181. ISBN 978-1-4051-9244-6.
Further reading
[edit]- Popescu, Monica (2010-05-14). South African Literature Beyond the Cold War. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137071859.