An Anthology of Russian Literature from Earliest Writings to Modern Fiction: Introduction to a Culture

by Nicholas Rzhevsky

Overview

Russia has a rich, huge, unwieldy cultural tradition. How to grasp it? This classroom reader is designed to respond to that problem. The literary works selected for inclusion in this anthology introduce the core cultural and historic themes of Russia's civilisation. Each text has resonance throughout the arts - in Rublev's icons, Meyerhold's theatre, Mousorgsky's operas, Prokofiev's symphonies, Fokine's choreography and Kandinsky's paintings. This material is supported by introductions, helpful annotations and bibliographies of resources in all media. The reader is intended for use in courses in Russian literature, culture and civilisation, as well as comparative literature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781563244223
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/28/1996
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	608
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

Table of Contents

This text describes and analyses national policy on mass immigration with consideration of the economic and social impact it has had on the nation's labour force. This edition updates changes in makeup of labour force and looks at policy initiatives concerning immigration reform.

What People are Saying About This

Nancy Condee

The multimedia CD provides a valuable opportunity for the student to see the complex ways in which cultural texts circulate in Russian society. Its multi-referentiality considerably expands the student's intellectual access to key themes, articulated in a broad range of media and stylistic registers.
—University of Pittsburgh

Victor Terras

Strikes a good balance between 'Russianness' and accessibility to an American reader.
—Brown University

Vladimir Alexandrov

A splendid introduction. ... Highly original and appealing.
—Yale University

Caryl Emerson

An astonishing anthology. ... A vivid, diversified introduction to one of the world's most provocative cultures.
—Princeton University

Editorial Reviews

A vividly fresh and individual yet broad introduction to the rich panoply of Russian culture.

Europe-Asia Studies

Arrangement of the selections is chronological, except for the early 19th century, when the progression is interrupted in order to arrange texts by topic. The introduction to each section places the literary works in their historical context and notes later cultural resonances. Following each text is an introductory guide to primary and secondary sources, including available aesthetic transformations of the work, its subjects, and its motifs in film, video, musical recordings, and art collections. These listings emphasize Russian rather than non- Russian responses in the arts (e.g. Sergei Bondarchuk's film adaptation of War and Peace rather than the American version). Rzhevsky is in the Russian department at SUNY, Stony Brook. Paper edition (unseen), $29.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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