The study focuses on the reception of Russian literature, more precisely contemporary Russian literature. The author of the article examines the question whether and how much a translated literary work can become an integral part of the recipient culture and what are those fundamental aspects based upon which a national culture, as a recipient, “chooses” certain works of a foreign literature to be translated. After outlining the history of Hungarian reception of translated Russian literature the paper introduces in detail the last 35 years of Hungarian reception of Russian literature, including the well-differentiated periods and the aspects of reception. The paper aims to answer the question fundamental in Russian-Hungarian translation as well: ‘What to translate?’