Dombey in Zhitomir, Pip in Taganrog : reading Dickens ‘as if for life’ in Russia

Abstract

Many Russian writers have been eager to demonstrate their intense childhood attachment to the novels of Charles Dickens. This article focuses on the narrative strategies used by Vladimir Korolenko (1853–1921) and Nelli Morozova (1924–2015) in their autobiographies to convey the importance of reading Dickens to their formation as writers. It argues that David Copperfield offers a useful model for understanding how Korolenko and Morozova write about reading, and that, rather than distancing Dickens and his characters from their global readership, translations increase proximity and facilitate empathetic readings.