Description
Book SynopsisLanguage and Metaphors of the Russian Revolution: Sow the Wind, Reap the Storm is a panoramic history of the Russian intelligentsia and analysis of the language and ideals of the Russian Revolution, from its inception over the long nineteenth-century, through fruition in early Soviet society. It examines metaphors for revolution in the storm, flood, and harvest imagery ubiquitous in Russian literary works. At the same time, it takes account of the struggle to own the narrative of modernity, including Bolshevik weaponization of language, and cultural policy that supported the use of terror and social purging. This uniquely cross-disciplinary study makes a close reading of texts which use storm, flood, and agricultural metaphors in diverse ways to represent revolution, whether in anticipation and celebration of its ideals, or resistance to the same. A spotlight is given to the lives and works of authors who respond to Soviet authoritarianism by reclaiming the narrative of revolution i
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Origin Stories of the Russian Revolution
Chapter 2: Roots of the Russian Intelligentsia
Chapter 3: The Intelligentsia and the People
Chapter 4: An Incomparable Age
Chapter 5: Bolshevik Weaponization of Language and Culture
Chapter 6: The Lives of ‘Former People’: White Guard
Chapter 7: Fruits of Revolution: Three Soviet Novels
Chapter 8: A Defense of the Personal: Doctor Zhivago
