Jean Alexander, Paul Debreczeny, and Madeline Levine discuss late twentieth-century Central and Eastern European literature. Since 1958, when Russian poet and novelist Boris Pasternak won the Nobel Prize for literature, seven other Central and Eastern European writers have been named Nobel laureates, including the 1984 winner, Jaroslav Seifert, the Czech poet. But much of Central and Eastern European literature remains unfamiliar to audiences in the United States. What is the historical and contemporary importance of Central and Eastern European literature for American readers? To what extent does this literature have parallels and counterpoints in British and American writing?
At the time of this interview, Alexander was an independent scholar. Both Debreczeny and Levine were professors of Slavic languages at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
