Russian Hybrids: Identity in the Translingual Writings of Andreï Makine, Wladimir Kaminer, and Gary Shteyngart

Abstract

Authors writing in a language other than their native tongue have become a common phenomenon in an era of increased international mobility. This article is devoted to three Russian-born émigré writers—Andreï Makine (b. 1957), Wladimir Kaminer (b. 1967), and Gary Shteyngart (b. 1972)—all of whom have achieved literary stardom with books written in French, German, and English, respectively. Although each of the three authors has a distinctive style and ideological position, in his own way each projects a “Russian” persona to the western public. Using the notion of cultural hybridity, Adrian Wanner explores the various strategies these authors have adopted in fashioning an identity for themselves that is tailored to meet the demands of the reading public in their respective host nations while exploiting the cachet of the Russian “brand name” in today's global literary economy.

Introduction

“…(Rutten 2009). The work of Adrian Wanner, for example, uses the notion of 'hybridity' to approach the question of what national and self-identity means in the case of 'Russian' writers who do not write in Russian (Wanner 2008). In short, and in stark contrast to Č aadaev's view of Russia as outside of time, temporally and physically distinct from surrounding countries, Russian culture today provides evidence of the opposite.…”

Narrating the Meaning of Existence: An Analysis of the Autobiographical Narratives of Three Translingual Writers

“…Makine came to France from Russia as a political refugee. After being initially rejected by many publishers, Makine's semi-autobiographical novel has won two of the most prestigious literature awards in France (Prix Goncourt and Prix Mé dicis), and his style was compared to that of Chekhov, Proust and Nabokov (see e. g.,Wanner, 2008).…”