Are Gavroche and Cosette Soviet Stories? Russian Adaptations of Victor Hugo’s novel “Les Misérables”

Abstract

Two French stories that were widely published in the USSR in translation, Cosette and Gavroche, are traditionally introduced as “excerpts” from Victor Hugo’s novel, Les Misérables. Yet, they are rather free adaptations of Hugo’s texts. The very first attempt to such free adaptations could be traced back to the late 1860s. At the focus of the article is the investigation into the first publications of such free adaptations. The story of the emergence of the most prevailing and widely published versions that later became true Soviet stories will be discussed. Special attention is given to the comparison between pre-revolutionary and Soviet-time free adaptations. The article by Myriam Truel.    Keywords: Les Misérables, Victor Hugo, Cosette, Gavroche, French literature in Russia, retellings, translation, children literature, popular literature