The politicization of the act of interpretation - John Steinbeck in Eastern Europe

Abstract

The paper shows how, in Eastern Europe, critics were
until very recently primarily in pursuit of social aspects and
progressive elements in Steinbeck’s art, enthusiastically praising
the writer’s politically committed as well as politically correct
writing, whereas his post-war work, showing a significant change
in the writer’s fictional method and his venturing into new forms
and subject matter, predominantly bore a negative connotation.