Leonid Rzhevsky papers

The Leonid Rzhevsky Papers consist of correspondence, writings, clippings and personal papers that document the work of Russian-born novelist and literary critic Leonid Rzhevsky. The papers span the years 1941-1987, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1950s and 1960s. The papers include material related to a few of Rzhevsky's works of fiction but chiefly document his critical essays, lectures and editorial work.

Correspondence and writings document Rzhevsky's role in the twentieth-century Russian emigre literary community in Europe and the United States. Rzhevsky was critical of the Soviet government and advocated for a unified emigre voice to propel Russian literary analysis into the post-Soviet era. Correspondence provides personal insights that are crucial to contextualizing Rzhevsky's creative writing, since his style of fiction approaches that of a memoir when addressing the fate of Soviet refugees (especially in post-War Germany).

Rzhevsky's editorial work is documented in his correspondence with "second wave" emigre literary figures, many of whom fled to Europe and the United States via Germany in the wake of the Second World War. Much of the correspondence is addressed to Rzhevsky both in a personal capacity and in his capacity as editor of Grani from 1952 to 1955 and of Novyi Zhurnal from 1975 to 1976. Correspondents such as Igor Chinnov, Ivan Elagin and Boris Filippov proposed essays for publication and discussed writings of Rzhevsky and others. In many cases, correspondence that began on formal editorial terms continued after Rzhevsky's tenure as editor.

The papers include dozens of drafts and printed versions of Rzhevsky's essays and lectures. His writings and lectures address diverse topics in Russian literature, including stylistics in the work of Solzhenitsyn, spiritual themes in the work of Dostoevsky, and innovations in the language of contemporary Soviet poets.

The papers also include fragmentary documentation of Rzhevsky's teaching, including correspondence with students and the schedules of symposia he organized at Norwich University in the 1970s and 1980s.