Reception of Terry Pratchett in Russia

The article aims to trace the history of the entry of Terry Pratchett, a famous British writer in the genre of comic fantasy, into Russian culture. Although Russian scholars have turned to the work of this writer before, studies of his reception in the Russian-language cultural field have not been conducted. The article considers the issue of reception in different aspects: (1) the publication of novels in Russian, (2) reviews of literary critics, (3) the reader's reaction to Pratchett's novels, (4) the interest of the academic community in the work of the writer. Despite the wide success in his homeland at the end of the 1980s due to the Discworld comic book series, the name of the writer remained virtually unknown to the mass reader until the end of the 1990s in Russia, which was due to the lack of Russian reader's preparation to perceive the works created to parody the fantasy genre. This study allows us to say with confidence that Pratchett's popularity in Russia continues to grow and has not reached its peak yet. Starting later, in comparison with other authors of fantasy, the reception of Pratchett developed at a rapid pace and went through three main stages in its development. At the stage of acquaintance with the author's books, already well-known to the English-speaking world (which began in the mid-1990s), the reception consisted almost solely in the translation of Pratchett's novels into Russian by professional translators and amateur enthusiasts who posted their translations on the Internet. At the next stage (which started in 2004), the translations were supplemented with critical responses and reviews by the columnists of the magazine The World of Fiction, which performed both an introductory function and the function of forming the reader's opinion. Along with professional critics, the opinion of the mass reader was spontaneously formed on the Internet. During this period, Pratchett gradually became a cult figure, as evidenced by the reader's excitement associated with his arrival in Russia, the emergence of fan communities and fanfiction. At the same time, a research field associated with the name of Pratchett began to form in academic circles, which indicates that the author was gradually turning into a classic. The third stage (which began in 2018) was marked by the completion of the publication in Russian of the main Pratchett's books, but the publication of his biographies, previously unpublished short stories, as well as reprints and editions of new translated versions aimed at satisfying the current reader's “communication hunger” with the works of their favourite writer emerged.

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