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James Mozur traces the development of Chingiz Aitmatov's fiction from the early 1950s through the mid-1970s, including Farewell, Gul'sary!, The White Ship, The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years, and The Place of the Skull. He discusses each major work against the political and cultural background in which it was created and thereby widens our understanding of post-Stalinist Soviet literature. Chingiz Aitmatov was born in Kirghizstan in 1928 and published his first stories in the 1950s in both Russian and Kirghiz. He soon took his place as spokesman for the progressive wing of official Soviet Russian literature, striving for greater openness in Soviet letters and for a new approach toward diverse nationalities. Unlike many other writers, Aitmatov continued to flourish in the cultural tumult following the collapse of the communist state, being appointed to government posts by Gorbachev and becoming Soviet ambassador to Luxembourg in 1991.

The image of women in Russian culture has undergone profound changes: from the origins of modern Russian literature in the eighteenth century until the Revolution of 1917, when women were a source of fascination for Russian writers, to the socialist realism period, during which public discussion of the representation of women in literature rapidly declined and the "woman question" was declared to have been "resolved," to a reappraisal of the position of women since the 1980s. This collection of essays by leading western and Russian specialists contains new insights and updates previous research into the role of women in Russian culture in the last two centuries and contributes to two exciting and growing research areas: the feminist critique of work by Russian male authors and the study of Russian women writers. Moreover, whereas most previous studies have concentrated on the aesthetic qualities of works by women writers, this collection includes both close textual analysis and the discussion of biographical, historical, and political questions relating both to the representation of women and women's culture. The aim is not to present aunified manifesto, but rather to bring...

The Post-Soviet Condition: Chingiz Aitmatov In The 90S , Examines The Works Of One Of The Foremost Writers Of Not Only Kyrgyzstan, But Of The Former Soviet Union. Chingiz Aitmatov S Stories, Novellas And Novels Were Conceived Within The Canon Of Socialist Realism But Also Proved The Author To Be A Critical Insider . Chingiz Aitmatov Bore Witness To The Periods Of The Second World War, Stalinism, The Thaw, Stagnation, Perestroika And Post-Socialism. His Works Since The 50S Reflected Kyrgyz Life And The Life Of Other Nationalities In The Broader Framework Of The Soviet Union. While Aitmatov S Works In The Soviet Period Were Greeted As Important Cultural Events And Widely Discussed, His Works Of The 90S Have Not Received Much Attention At Home Or Abroad. This Book Critically Analyses Aitmatov S Works Of The 90S, The Ways In Which He Articulates New Positions Or Relocates Old Ones, The Issues Of Post-Soviet Life That He Focuses Upon And The New Realism He Adopts After The Demise Of Socialist Realism.

The Myth of the Non-Russian explores the magical realist prose of two non-Slavic authors writing in Russian in the Soviet Union in the 1970s-1980s. Erika Haber argues that these authors juxtaposed their native myth with Soviet myth, thus undermining the Soviet prescription of national conformity in art by suggesting a plurality of worlds and truths.

Vladimir Nabokov complained about the number of Dostoevsky's characters "sinning their way to Jesus." In truth, Christ is an elusive figure not only in Dostoevsky's novels, but in Russian literature as a whole. The rise of the historical critical method of biblical criticism in the nineteenth century and the growth of secularism it stimulated made an earnest affirmation of Jesus in literature highly problematic. If they affirmed Jesus too directly, writers paradoxically risked diminishing him, either by deploying faith explanations that no longer persuade in an age of skepticism or by reducing Christ to a mere argument in an ideological dispute. The writers at the heart of this study understood that to reimage Christ for their age, they had to make him known through indirect, even negative ways, lest what they say about him be mistaken for cliche, doctrine, or naïve apologetics. The Christology of Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Mikhail Bulgakov, and Boris Pasternak is thus apophatic because they deploy negative formulations (saying what God is not) in their writings about Jesus. Professions of atheism in Dostoevsky and Tolstoy's non-divine Jesus are but separate negative paths toward...

First Published in 1998. This volume will surely be regarded as the standard guide to Russian literature for some considerable time to come... It is therefore confidently recommended for addition to reference libraries, be they academic or public.

Slovak nationalist sentiment has been a constant presence in the history of Czechoslovakia, coming to head in the torrent of nationalism that resulted in the dissolution of the Republic on January 1, 1993. James Felak examines a parallel episode in the 1930s with Slovak nationalists achieved autonomy for Slovakia-but “at the price” of the loss of East Central Europe's only parliamentary democracy and the strengthening of Nazi power. The tensions between Czechs and Slovaks date back to the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918. Slovaks, who differed sharply in political tradition, social and economic development, and culture, and resented being governed by a centralized administration run from the Czech capital of Prague, formed the Slovak People's Party, led by Roman Catholic priest Ankrej Hlinka. Drawing heavily on Czech and Slovak archives, Felak provides a balanced history of the party, offering unprecedented insight into intraparty factionalism and behind-the-scenes maneuvering surrounding SSP's policy decisions.

Christine Ruane examines the issues of gender and class in the teaching profession of late imperial Russia, at a time when the vocation was becoming increasingly feminized in a zealously patriarchal society. Teaching was the first profession open to women in the 1870s, and by the end of the century almost half of all Russian teachers were female. Yet the notion that mothers had a natural affinity for teaching was paradoxically matched by formal and informal bans against married women in the classroom. Ruane reveals not only the patriarchal rationale but also how women teachers viewed their public roles and worked to reverse the marriage ban. Ruane's research and insightful analysis broadens our knowledge of an emerging professional class, especially newly educated and emancipated women, during Russia's transition to a more modern society.

This timely guide focuses on books that deal with the major historical occurrences that have impacted Russia and Eastern Europe, including the transition from Socialism to market economics, the civil war in the Yugoslav peninsula, and the Holocaust, featuring annotations of works representative of the time and culture. Titles are arranged by country of origin and subject area. An excellent resource for academic librarians, scholars, students, and anyone interested in the region.

Contains over 6000 entries that provide a bibliography of interpretations for short stories published between 1989 and 2000.

Books recommended for undergraduate and college libraries listed by Library of Congress Classification Numbers.

"American quarterly of Soviet and East European studies" (varies).

An account of the recent history of the city in the former Soviet Union. Offering information based on a range of sources, this book provides insights relevant to today's Russia and her fellow post-Soviet states.

Reference Guide to Short Fiction provides study and commentary on the most instrumental writers of short fiction through the 20th century. International in scope, this single scholarly volume includes 779 entries on 377 authors and 402 short stories.

Covers world authors from many periods and genres, building an understanding of the various contexts -- from the biographical to the literary to the historical -- in which literature can be viewed. Identifies the significant literary devices and global themes that define a writer's style and place the author in a larger literary tradition as chronicled and evaluated by critics over time.

Whether the writers in this period described the war, the Great Terror, the gulag experience, exile, repression, or simply everyday life in the city or in the country, they generally turned to a "major theme of Russian literature since the Revolution the fate of the individual human being in a mass state." In the literature often the state won, due to its power; at other times individuals triumphed, because of their moral convictions. The same can be said of these writers.

Includes authors, titles, subjects.

Russian Literature since 1991 is the first comprehensive, single-volume compendium of modern scholarship on post-Soviet Russian literature. The volume encompasses broad, complex and diverse sources of literary material - from ideological and historical novels to experimental prose and poetry, from nonfiction to drama. Written by an international team of leading experts on contemporary Russian literature and culture, it presents a broad panorama of genres in post-Soviet literature such as postmodernism, magical historicism, hyper-naturalism (in drama), and the new lyricism. At the same time, it offers close readings of the most prominent works published in Russia since the end of the Soviet regime and elimination of censorship. The collection highlights the interdisciplinary context of twenty-first-century Russian literature and can be widely used both for research and teaching by specialists in and beyond Russian studies, including those in post-Cold War and post-communist world history, literary theory, comparative literature and cultural studies.

Captures the aims and scope of nationalism through a wide-ranging examination of concepts, figures, movements, and events.

This much-needed guide to translated literature offers readers the opportunity to hear from, learn about, and perhaps better understand our shrinking world from the perspective of insiders from many cultures and traditions. • Over 1,000 annotated contemporary world fiction titles, featuring author's name; title; translator; publisher and place of publication; genre/literary style/story type; an annotation; related works by the author; subject keywords; and original language • 9 introductory overviews about classic world fiction titles • Extensive bibliographical essays about fiction traditions in other countries • 5 indexes: annotated authors, annotated titles, translators, nations, and subjects/keywords

A world list of books in the English language.

"Intended for students and non-specialists, this six-volume set does an outstanding job of covering all aspects of modern Asia (economics, religion, technology, politics, education, the arts, environmental issues, international relations, and scientific advances). Recognizing that there is not one Asian culture but many, the editors have been careful to stress both the interrelatedness and the tremendous variance of traditions. The set is equally useful for those researching common themes across Asian culture and those examining a particular country. Well illustrated and carefully indexed, the set is highly recommended for all public and academic libraries."--"The Best of the Best Reference Sources," American Libraries, May 2003.

Onlinebasen British Humanities Index svarer til både den trykte udgave og cdrom-udgaven af samme navn. Den indekserer mere end 320 internationale, engelsksprogede tidsskrifter inden for humaniora, samt - selektivt - de største britiske dagblade. Humaniora dækkes bredt, således arkitektur, arkæologi, kunst, pædagogik, film, historie, lingvistik, litteratur, musik, malerkunst, filosofi, statskundskab, religion, o.a. Referencerne omfatter tillige et abstract, og der er mulighed for søgning via thesaurus, dvs. med brug af anbefalede emneord. Onlinebasen British Humanities Index opdateres månedligt.