This book (comprising four lectures presented at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1985) is concerned with the function and status of poetry in the twentieth century, and is particularly concerned to contrast attitudes in Britain and America with those in the USSR and Eastern Europe. Beginning with the function of poetry today, Professor Gifford goes on to consider the nature and validity of 'poetic witness', the problem of the poet's solitude and his relation to the community, and finally the question of how far the 'international code' of poetry can be understood by those who care for it seriously in their own language. The author, who has published on many aspects of twentieth-century poetry, has attempted an 'apology for poetry' in an age which needs, but tends to ignore, this art formerly at the centre of European civilization. Amongst the poets discussed are Blok, Akhmatova, Mandelstam, Tsvetaeva, Emily Dickinson, Yeats, Pound, Eliot, Cavafy and Seferis.

Comparative Literature explores an 'area of interest' rather than a special discipline. The book begins with an account of the approaches that twentieth century writers took to literature by writers other than themselves. It discusses the common tone shared by those who subscribe to a national tradition, and considers what is meant by 'the mind of Europe'. It ponders the problems of translation, and discusses the nature of comparative study at university. Lastly, the special case of American literature is treated as pointing to the need for adjustment to a new stage in the world's culture. The criticial discussion of comparative studies provided in this book demonstrates the greater depth and vivacity that these studies can give to our ideas about literature.

The Novel in Russia examines the Russian sensibility as it is revealed in prose fiction, the dominant mode of Russian literature. It explores how, in the work of Pushkin, Lermontov and Gogol, narrative art forsakes poetry for prose, and considers in turn six authors from the great age of prose realism: Goncharov, Turgenev, Leskov, Tolstoy, Saltykov-Shchedrin and Dostoevsky. The book provides an account of Chekhov and Gorky, appraises 'decadent' prose, the earlier Soviet writing, the school of Socialist Realism, and Doctor Zhivago. The theme of the writer's contest with critical pressure and State interference runs throughout.

The Novel in Russia examines the Russian sensibility as it is revealed in prose fiction, the dominant mode of Russian literature. It explores how, in the work of Pushkin, Lermontov and Gogol, narrative art forsakes poetry for prose, and considers in turn six authors from the great age of prose realism: Goncharov, Turgenev, Leskov, Tolstoy, Saltykov-Shchedrin and Dostoevsky. The book provides an account of Chekhov and Gorky, appraises 'decadent' prose, the earlier Soviet writing, the school of Socialist Realism, and Doctor Zhivago. The theme of the writer's contest with critical pressure and State interference runs throughout.

Comparative Literature explores an 'area of interest' rather than a special discipline. The book begins with an account of the approaches that twentieth century writers took to literature by writers other than themselves. It discusses the common tone shared by those who subscribe to a national tradition, and considers what is meant by 'the mind of Europe'. It ponders the problems of translation, and discusses the nature of comparative study at university. Lastly, the special case of American literature is treated as pointing to the need for adjustment to a new stage in the world's culture. The criticial discussion of comparative studies provided in this book demonstrates the greater depth and vivacity that these studies can give to our ideas about literature.

This book (comprising four lectures presented at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1985) is concerned with the function and status of poetry in the twentieth century, and is particularly concerned to contrast attitudes in Britain and America with those in the USSR and Eastern Europe. Beginning with the function of poetry today, Professor Gifford goes on to consider the nature and validity of 'poetic witness', the problem of the poet's solitude and his relation to the community, and finally the question of how far the 'international code' of poetry can be understood by those who care for it seriously in their own language. The author, who has published on many aspects of twentieth-century poetry, has attempted an 'apology for poetry' in an age which needs, but tends to ignore, this art formerly at the centre of European civilization. Amongst the poets discussed are Blok, Akhmatova, Mandelstam, Tsvetaeva, Emily Dickinson, Yeats, Pound, Eliot, Cavafy and Seferis.

An attempt to interpret and appraise the work of Boris Pasternak as lyrical and narrative poet, writer of prose fiction, and verse translator (notably from Shakespeare). Pasternak belonged to an unusually gifted generation of Russian poets who began writing in the years that preceded the First World War and the Russian revolution of 1917. Henry Gifford discusses Pasternak's choice of vocation, and then examines the poetry and stories of the 1920s and 1930s, his work as translator, his two autobiographies, the novel that brought him world fame and much personal anguish, Doctor Zhivago, his late poems and his unfinished play, The Blind Beauty. Pasternak is seen in relation to his most eminent contemporaries among the Russian poets, and to the common crisis they had to face. All the poetry quoted in Russian has a plain prose translation. This critical study is not intended only for the specialist student of Russian literature: it should have an appeal for all readers who are concerned about the survival of poetry in the present age.

Osip Mandelstam visited Armenia in 1930, and during the eight months of his stay he rediscovered his poetic voice and was inspired to write an experimental meditation on the country and its ancient culture. 'Armenia brought him back to his true self, a self depending on the "inner ear" which could never play a poet false. There was everything congenial to him in this country of red and ochre landscape, ancient churches, and resonant pottery.' (Henry Gifford). Conversation about Dante, Mandelstam's incomparable apologia for poetic freedom and challenge to the Bolshevik establishment, was dictated by the poet to his wife, Nadezhda Mandelstam, in 1934-35, during the last phase of his itinerant life. It has close ties to the Journey.

All the poetry quoted in Russian has a plain prose translation, so that the book can be enjoyed by the general reader as well as the specialist student of Russian language and literature.