The Russian Soul Englished

According to received wisdom, the reception of Russian literature in English translation lowered self-consciousness in the use of the term soul by English authors. Virginia Woolf and D.H. Lawrence provide evidence of an opposite effect. English translations of Russian literature from the 1880s onwards failed to mediate the fact that душа (duša; soul) had and has a very different place in Russian language and culture than soul in English culture. Although not the only factor affecting literary uses of soul in early twentieth-century English literature, Russian literature had a significant and enduring impact on its use in English literary production.