Russia-England: the development of a cultural contact in 1930s

The mass recognition of the Soviet Russia in 1930s led to its cultural rapprochement with various countries, including the United Kingdom. B. Shaw, G. Wells, M. Forster, R. Oldington express sympathies for the new Russia state in their works. Speaking about mutual influence of Russian and English literature and culture, it is also necessary to consider the processes in Russia and the intellectuals' relation to them. The official recognition of the Soviet power in England occurred in 1924. Before that the creative intellectuals of Great Britain were well familiar with F.M. Dostoevsky's, L.N. Tolstoy's and I.S. Turgenev's works. M.Gorky's, M.Sholokhov's, N.Ostrovsky's, L.Leonov's and other literary artists' works were translated into English. A film by M.Gorky's novel Mother was shown with success in English cinemas. Many positive comments were published about the cinema production technique of Russian films. The Russian theatre also attracted public attention. Afinogenov's and other dramatists' plays were translated from Russian into English. In the mid-thirtith the British section of the International association of revolutionary writers was created; the magazine Left Review was first published. The book reviews and articles on the Soviet literature occupied a great place in periodicals Left Review, Labour Monthly, Storm, in daily newspaper of the English Communist Party Daily Worker. In the English literature of this period V.I. Lenin's artistic image appeared (Hugh MacDiarmid, Ralf Fox, Jack Lindsey, etc.). The Civil War in Spain united the creative intellectuals of many countries in international brigades. The English public compared the young English writers (R.Fox), who battled in Spain as volunteers, with Turgenev's Rudin. At the International congresses Russian and English writers actively supported modern culture. They were solidary in struggle against the growing threat of fascism

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