Cultural and intellectual contacts between Russia / Soviet Union and the West have a long history, and the import of translated literature into Russian plays here the leading role. Being just a small part of foreign literature in Russia, the Danish literature in Russia reflects the most important tendencies and processes in the transfer of foreign literature and its perception by Russian readers.

From 1945 to 1960, the selection of literary works for translation from Danish into Russian was almost exclusively made on the basis of ideology. Publishers gave preference to the writers who either were communists (Martin Andersen Nexø, Hans Kirk, Hans Scherfig) or expressed clear anti-fascist ideas during the Second World War (Carl Erik Soya). Besides, the works of polar explorers (Knud Rasmussen, Peter Freuchen) were published in this period. Some of well-established Danish writers, who had already been introduced in other countries, were not translated at that time as they did not accord with Marxist ideology. However, the selection of poetry translated in the period was not always influenced by ideological factors.
After 1960, the selection of works for translation to a greater extent depended on the interests of a publisher and the personality of a translator. There is no doubt that the change in the political climate of the country and an increasing interest in foreign literature had influenced the literary policy. The ideological factor still played a certain role, which is clearly illustrated by some forewords and articles where publishers or translators had to argue that the works were written by “good friends” of the Soviet Union.
Starting with 1980, the selection of books for translation became more random and publishing houses showed a marked preference for works that have an artistic value.