This paper examines how C. P. Snow’s “two cultures” thesis was received and reshaped in socialist Czechoslovakia. Snow’s argument about the divide between science and “literary intellectuals” reached the country in the 1960s both directly and through parallel Soviet discussions linked to Ilya Ehrenburg. Literary scholars such as Zdeněk Stříbrný and Petr Pujman introduced and interpreted Snow’s ideas in debates on socialist culture, modernization, and peaceful coexistence, often in contrast to his British critic F. R. Leavis.
The paper traces how the thesis shifted in meaning as it crossed languages, disciplines, and ideological contexts. Initially framed as a literary controversy, it later informed wider debates on science, society, and progress in popular-science journals and cultural forums. Snow’s ideas were selectively adapted, reshaped to fit Czechoslovak intellectual and institutional priorities.
Debates over Snow influenced discussions about the relationship between the natural sciences and the humanities, raising questions about their role in socialist society. Translation here involved not only language but also the reinterpretation of concepts, the negotiation of authority, and the adaptation of the “two cultures” framework to local political and cultural contexts.