L’apolitisme d’Ella Maillart dans Parmi la jeunesse russe et Des monts Célestes aux sables rouges

Abstract

What can travel writing tell us about the politics of the USSR? This article looks to consider the nuances of the testimony of traveller and writer Ella Maillart in two travelogues from the early 1930s : Parmi la jeunesse russe (1930) and Des monts Célestes aux sables rouges (1932). A rereading of these two texts allows the reader to take another look at the history of the Stalinist era, a time that allowed for few to bear witness. At the same time, the nearly one hundred years that separate us from the publication date of these two books allows us to reconsider the reception of Ella Maillart’s writing both from a literary and historical perspective.

Keywords

• testimony
• travel writing
• Stalinist era
• apolitism
• Maillart (Ella)