Other Voices: Three Centuries of Cultural Dialogue between Russia and Western Europe
Editor: Graham H. Roberts
Date Of Publication: Jan 2011
Isbn13: 978-1-4438-2644-0
Isbn: 1-4438-2644-8
This volume highlights the diversity and complexity of cultural dialogue between Russia and Western Europe since the end of the eighteenth century. Part one contains contributions which focus on how these cultures have viewed each other. There are chapters on the myth of Dumas père in Russia, the Russian travelogues of Henry Lansdell, Konstantin Leont’ev’s views on Great Britain and France, and the Russian Symbolists’ construction of a mythical European past. Authors in the second part compare the account of the year 1793 in novels by Hugo, Dickens and Dostoevsky, and the representation of female beauty by Bunin and Proust. Part three looks at ways in which these different cultures have influenced each other. Subjects include echoes of French Impressionism in Soviet painting, John McGahern’s rewriting of a Tolstoy play, and actress Renata Litvinova’s reworking of the story of Marguerite Gauthier from La Dame aux Camélias. The subject of part four is the actual physical encounters between Russia and Western Europe. There are contributions on Karamzin’s experiences in revolutionary Alsace, the impression on Russian national consciousness made by invading French soldiers in 1812, and the experiences of leading French émigrés in inter-war Paris.

A British Slavist teaching at the University of Nanterre in Paris, France, Graham H. Roberts has published over thirty articles on various aspects of Russian culture. The author of a monograph on the Soviet literary avant-garde, he is currently working on a book on the representation of consumer culture in contemporary Russian literature.

“Other Voices is a timely and welcome addition to the literature on a particularly interesting and important topic, namely cultural dialogue between Russia and Western Europe. The book is divided into four sections which, although not of equal length (the section ‘Comparisons’ contains just two chapters), complement each other perfectly. The contributions, from Russian, West European and North American scholars, are of a uniformly high standard. A number of them are outstanding. The broad range of topic—from Karamzin’s stay in Alsace to star of post-Soviet cinema Renata Litvinova—is especially impressive. Scholarly and informative, this volume will be of great interest to students and academics in Slavic studies, comparative literature, and cultural history.”

—Professor Rosalind Marsh, Professor of Russian Studies, Department of European Studies and Modern Languages, University of Bath, England

Price Uk Gbp: 39.99
Price Us Usd: 59.99

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