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The legendary Russian biography series, The Lives of Remarkable
People, has played a significant role in Russian culture from its
inception in 1890 until today. The longest running biography series
in world literature, it spans three centuries and widely divergent
political and cultural epochs: Imperial, Soviet, and Post-Soviet
Russia. The authors argue that the treatment of biographical
figures in the series is a case study for continuities and changes
in Russian national identity over time. Biography in Russia and
elsewhere remains a most influential literary genre and the
distinctive approach and branding of the series has made it the
economic engine of its publisher, Molodaia gvardiia. The centrality
of biographies of major literary figures in the series reflects
their heightened importance in Russian culture. The contributors
examine the ways that biographies of Russia's foremost writers
shaped the literary canon while mirroring the political and social
realities of both the subjects' and their biographers' times.
Starting with Alexander Pushkin and ending with Joseph Brodsky, the
authors analyze the interplay of research and imagination in
biographical narrative, the changing perceptions of what
constitutes literary greatness, and the subversive possibilities of
biography during eras of political censorship.
For the first time in English, The Russian Medical Humanities: Past
and Present argues that the medical humanities is a vibrant and
emerging field in Post-Soviet Russia. In a unique collaboration
that brings together diverse experts from both Russia and America,
this volume showcases the Russian medical humanities as an
interdisciplinary project that combines insights from philosophy,
bioethics, anthropology, history, and literature in order to
provide more compassionate medical care to patients in the
twenty-first century. The chapters in this volume explore past and
present humanistic trends in Russian medical training, as well as
examine how Russian authors and cultural figures, some
physician-writers, some without professional background in medicine
of any kind, have positioned healthy and ailing bodies in their
creative work. This volume's contributors, who range from literary
scholars, educators, translators and poets to medical historians,
librarians, museum curators, and social workers, provide empathetic
insight into the experience of medical encounters which all
cultures grapple with. Their work will prove useful not only to
current and future health practitioners, but also to a broader
audience of readers who are seeking to make compassionate and
informed decisions about healthcare for their loved ones and for
themselves.
For nearly two centuries readers all over the world have turned to
the great canon of Russian literature. Love and death, war and
peace, yes, even crime and punishment; readers across the globe
have found in Russian writing a substantial measure of intellectual
provocation, aesthetic pleasure, emotional resonance, and personal
solace. Why We (Still) Need Russian Literature uses a number of
Russian authors, from the familiar names of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and
Chekhov to less widely known writers like Goncharov, Bunin and
Erofeev, to connect readers with these experiences. With a lively,
jargon-free style and insightful analyses of thought-provoking
texts, this concise volume helps you to understand more fully the
pleasure to be found in reading by putting you in conversation with
some of the Russian masters. Though Russian novels often seem to be
as big and potentially dangerous as a brick, this book argues that
‘big’ is in the eye of the beholder; the very definition of a
Big Book, as is argued here, being a work of literature that bears
reading and rereading, contemplating and discussing. Indeed by
demonstrating how to identify what readers seek, and find—from
aesthetically pleasing descriptions to apt psychological
renderings—in Russian books, Angela Brintlinger seeks to enhance
the gratification of reading, giving armchair travelers an excuse
to embark on a series of fascinating journeys. Drawing on
Brintlinger’s experiences as a scholar, teacher, and reader of
literature, the book is informed by a deep cultural understanding
of Russia and Russians. It reveals this through engaging literary
meditations that connect Russian literature to those losses,
ironies, and ambiguities that define the human condition. More
specifically, it will serve as a guide or a prompt to give the Big
Books of Russian literature a(nother) chance.
Across the twentieth century, the Russian literary hero remained
central to Russian fiction and frequently "battled" one enemy or
another, whether on the battlefield or on a civilian front. War was
the experience of the Russian people, and it became a dominant
trope to represent the Soviet experience in literature as well as
other areas of cultural life. This book traces those war
experiences, memories, tropes, and metaphors in the literature of
the Soviet and post-Soviet period, examining the work of Dmitry
Furmanov, Fyodor Gladkov, Alexander Tvardovsky, Emmanuil
Kazakevich, Vera Panova, Viktor Nekrasov, Alexander Solzhenitsyn,
Vladimir Voinovich, Sergei Dovlatov, Vladimir Makanin, Viktor
Astafiev, Viktor Pelevin, and Vasily Aksyonov. These authors
represented official Soviet literature and underground or dissident
literature; they fell into and out of favor, were exiled and
returned to Russia, died at home and abroad. Most importantly, they
were all touched by war, and they reacted to the state of war in
their literary works.
Across the twentieth century, the Russian literary hero remained
central to Russian fiction and frequently "battled" one enemy or
another, whether on the battlefield or on a civilian front. War was
the experience of the Russian people, and it became a dominant
trope to represent the Soviet experience in literature as well as
other areas of cultural life. This book traces those war
experiences, memories, tropes, and metaphors in the literature of
the Soviet and post-Soviet period, examining the work of Dmitry
Furmanov, Fyodor Gladkov, Alexander Tvardovsky, Emmanuil
Kazakevich, Vera Panova, Viktor Nekrasov, Alexander Solzhenitsyn,
Vladimir Voinovich, Sergei Dovlatov, Vladimir Makanin, Viktor
Astafiev, Viktor Pelevin, and Vasily Aksyonov. These authors
represented official Soviet literature and underground or dissident
literature; they fell into and out of favor, were exiled and
returned to Russia, died at home and abroad. Most importantly, they
were all touched by war, and they reacted to the state of war in
their literary works.
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Russian Cuisine in Exile (Paperback)
Alexander Genis, Pyotr Vail; Edited by Angela Brintlinger, Thomas Feerick
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R691
R586
Discovery Miles 5 860
Save R105 (15%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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Russian Cuisine in Exile brings the essays of Pyotr Vail and
Alexander Genis, originally written in the mid-1980s, to an
English-speaking audience. A must-read for scholars, students and
general readers interested in Russian studies, but also for
specialists in emigre literature, mobility studies, popular
culture, and food studies. These essays-beloved by Russians in the
U.S., the Russian diaspora across the world, and in post-Soviet
Russia-narrate everyday experiences and re-imagine the identities
of immigrants through their engagement with Russian cuisine. Richly
illustrated and beautifully produced, the book has been translated
"not word for word, but smile for smile," to use the phrase of Vail
and Genis's fellow emigre writer Sergei Dovlatov. Translators
Angela Brintlinger and Thomas Feerick have supplied copious
authoritative and occasionally amusing commentaries.
Alexander Griboedov's Woe from Wit is one of the masterpieces of
Russian drama. A verse comedy set in Moscow high society after the
Napoleonic wars, it offers sharply drawn characters and clever
repartee, mixing meticulously crafted banter and biting social
critique. Its protagonist, Alexander Chatsky, is an idealistic
ironist, a complex Romantic figure who would be echoed in Russian
literature from Pushkin onward. Chatsky returns from three years
abroad hoping to rekindle a romance with his childhood sweetheart,
Sophie. In the meantime, she has fallen in love with Molchalin, her
reactionary father Famusov's scheming secretary. Chatsky speaks out
against the hypocrisy of aristocratic society-and as scandal
erupts, he is met with accusations of madness. Woe from Wit was
written in 1823 and was an immediate sensation, but under
heavy-handed tsarist censorship, it was not published in full until
forty years later. Its influence is felt not just in Russian
literary language but in everyday speech. It is the source of a
remarkable number of frequently quoted aphorisms and turns of
phrase, comparable to Shakespeare's influence on English. Yet owing
to its complex rhyme scheme and verse structure, the play has
frequently been considered almost untranslatable. Betsy Hulick's
translation brings Griboedov's sparkling wit, spirited dialogue,
and effortless crossing of registers from elevated to colloquial
into a lively contemporary English.
Russian poet, soldier, and statesman Gavriil Derzhavin (1743-1816)
lived during an epoch of momentous change in Russia - imperial
expansion, peasant revolts, war with Turkey, and struggle with
Napoleon - and he served three tsars, including Catherine the
Great. Here in its first English translation is the masterful
biography of Derzhavin by another acclaimed Russian man of letters,
Vladislav Khodasevich. Derzhavin occupied a position at the center
of Russian life, uniting civic service with poetic inspiration and
creating an oeuvre that at its essence celebrated the triumphs of
Russia and its rulers, particularly Catherine the Great. His
biographer Khodasevich, by contrast, left Russia in 1922, unable to
abide the increasingly repressive regime of the Soviets. For
Khodasevich, whose lyric poems were as commonplace in their focus
as Derzhavin's odes were grand, this biography was in a sense a
rediscovery of a lost and idyllic era, a period when it was
possible to aspire to the pinnacles of artistic achievement while
still occupying a central role in Russian society. Khodasevich
writes with humor, intelligence, and understanding, and his work
stands as a monument to the last three centuries of Russian
history, lending keen insight into Russia's past as well as its
present and future.
Seasoned Socialism considers the relationship between gender and
food in late Soviet daily life. Political and economic conditions
heavily influenced Soviet life and foodways during this period and
an exploration of Soviet women's central role in the daily
sustenance for their families as well as the obstacles they faced
on this quest offers new insights into intergenerational and
inter-gender power dynamics of that time. Food, both in its quality
and quantity, was a powerful tool in the Soviet Union. This
collection features work by scholars in an array of fields
including cultural studies, literary studies, sociology, history,
and food studies, and the work gathered here explores the
intersection of gender, food, and culture in the post-1960s Soviet
context. From personal cookbooks to gulag survival strategies,
Seasoned Socialism considers gender construction and performance
across a wide array of primary sources, including poetry, fiction,
film, women's journals, oral histories, and interviews. This
collection provides fresh insight into how the Soviet government
sought to influence both what citizens ate and how they thought
about food.
Alexander Griboedov's Woe from Wit is one of the masterpieces of
Russian drama. A verse comedy set in Moscow high society after the
Napoleonic wars, it offers sharply drawn characters and clever
repartee, mixing meticulously crafted banter and biting social
critique. Its protagonist, Alexander Chatsky, is an idealistic
ironist, a complex Romantic figure who would be echoed in Russian
literature from Pushkin onward. Chatsky returns from three years
abroad hoping to rekindle a romance with his childhood sweetheart,
Sophie. In the meantime, she has fallen in love with Molchalin, her
reactionary father Famusov's scheming secretary. Chatsky speaks out
against the hypocrisy of aristocratic society-and as scandal
erupts, he is met with accusations of madness. Woe from Wit was
written in 1823 and was an immediate sensation, but under
heavy-handed tsarist censorship, it was not published in full until
forty years later. Its influence is felt not just in Russian
literary language but in everyday speech. It is the source of a
remarkable number of frequently quoted aphorisms and turns of
phrase, comparable to Shakespeare's influence on English. Yet owing
to its complex rhyme scheme and verse structure, the play has
frequently been considered almost untranslatable. Betsy Hulick's
translation brings Griboedov's sparkling wit, spirited dialogue,
and effortless crossing of registers from elevated to colloquial
into a lively contemporary English.
The problem of madness has preoccupied Russian thinkers since the
beginning of Russia's troubled history and has been dealt with
repeatedly in literature, art, film, and opera, as well as medical,
political, and philosophical essays. Madness has been treated not
only as a medical or psychological matter, but also as a
metaphysical one, encompassing problems of suffering, imagination,
history, sex, social and world order, evil, retribution, death, and
the afterlife. Madness and the Mad in Russian Culture represents a
joint effort by American, British, and Russian scholars -
historians, literary scholars, sociologists, cultural theorists,
and philosophers - to understand the rich history of madness in the
political, literary, and cultural spheres of Russia. Editors Angela
Brintlinger and Ilya Vinitsky have brought together essays that
cover over 250 years and address a wide variety of ideas related to
madness - from the involvement of state and social structures in
questions of mental health, to the attitudes of major Russian
authors and cultural figures towards insanity and how those
attitudes both shape and are shaped by the history, culture, and
politics of Russia.
Seasoned Socialism considers the relationship between gender and
food in late Soviet daily life. Political and economic conditions
heavily influenced Soviet life and foodways during this period and
an exploration of Soviet women's central role in the daily
sustenance for their families as well as the obstacles they faced
on this quest offers new insights into intergenerational and
inter-gender power dynamics of that time. Food, both in its quality
and quantity, was a powerful tool in the Soviet Union. This
collection features work by scholars in an array of fields
including cultural studies, literary studies, sociology, history,
and food studies, and the work gathered here explores the
intersection of gender, food, and culture in the post-1960s Soviet
context. From personal cookbooks to gulag survival strategies,
Seasoned Socialism considers gender construction and performance
across a wide array of primary sources, including poetry, fiction,
film, women's journals, oral histories, and interviews. This
collection provides fresh insight into how the Soviet government
sought to influence both what citizens ate and how they thought
about food.
For nearly two centuries readers all over the world have turned to
the great canon of Russian literature. Love and death, war and
peace, yes, even crime and punishment; readers across the globe
have found in Russian writing a substantial measure of intellectual
provocation, aesthetic pleasure, emotional resonance, and personal
solace. Why We (Still) Need Russian Literature uses a number of
Russian authors, from the familiar names of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and
Chekhov to less widely known writers like Goncharov, Bunin and
Erofeev, to connect readers with these experiences. With a lively,
jargon-free style and insightful analyses of thought-provoking
texts, this concise volume helps you to understand more fully the
pleasure to be found in reading by putting you in conversation with
some of the Russian masters. Though Russian novels often seem to be
as big and potentially dangerous as a brick, this book argues that
‘big’ is in the eye of the beholder; the very definition of a
Big Book, as is argued here, being a work of literature that bears
reading and rereading, contemplating and discussing. Indeed by
demonstrating how to identify what readers seek, and find—from
aesthetically pleasing descriptions to apt psychological
renderings—in Russian books, Angela Brintlinger seeks to enhance
the gratification of reading, giving armchair travelers an excuse
to embark on a series of fascinating journeys. Drawing on
Brintlinger’s experiences as a scholar, teacher, and reader of
literature, the book is informed by a deep cultural understanding
of Russia and Russians. It reveals this through engaging literary
meditations that connect Russian literature to those losses,
ironies, and ambiguities that define the human condition. More
specifically, it will serve as a guide or a prompt to give the Big
Books of Russian literature a(nother) chance.
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