The Making of a Western Socialist Scholar: J. D. Bernal in Eastern Europe

This article examines the translation and appropriation of J. D. Bernal’s work in socialist Eastern Europe, focusing on Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Poland and the Soviet Union. Considering the nature of intellectual transfer, it explores how paratexts, especially prefaces and editorial framing, constructed Bernal as a paradigmatic scholar-activist whose scientific authority legitimised Marxist science and planning. Rather than examining what was transferred, the analysis centres on how transfer operated, demonstrating how Bernal’s persona and texts were strategically utilised within socialist publishing cultures. Through this lens, the article highlights the interplay between translation, ideology and scholarly personas in the production of Cold War knowledge.