Description
Book SynopsisYou don't know his name, but Boris Akunin is one of the most popular and prolific Russian writers of the twenty-first century.
Trade Review"One fascinating feature of The Akunin Project is its intention to experiment with the traditional form of an academic collected volume as well as epitomize postmodernist aesthetics both thematically and stylistically in this project." -- Olga Breininger-Umetayeva, Higher School of Economics *
The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Notes on Transliteration 1. The Akunin Project: Introduction Elena V. Baraban and Stephen M. Norris 2. Interview with Grigorii Chkhartishvili (Boris Akunin) Part One: Postmodern Detektiv: The Erast Fandorin Series 3. In Search of a Hero: Boris Akunin’s Death of Achilles Elena V. Baraban 4. Rewriting Homer: Boris Akunin’s Postmodern Approach Judith Kalb Part Two: Amateur Detectives: The Sister Pelagia Trilogy and Adventures of Nicholas Fandorin 5. Tempting the Reader into a Search for Meaning: Boris Akunin’s Pelagia Trilogy Claire Whitehead 6. "A Little Theory": Boris Akunin’s "Crime and Punishment" Zara M. Torlone Part Three: Buried Secrets and Historical Spies in Akunin’s Works 7. The Mysteries of Moscow: In Which Boris Akunin Impersonates a French Writer and Reveals a Buried Secret Elizabeth Richmond-Garza 8. Spying on the Past: Boris Akunin’s History of Espionage Stephen M. Norris Part Four: Rewriting the History of Russia 9. L’etat, c’est tout: Boris Akunin’s History of the Russian State and the National History Canon Ilya Gerasimov 10. An Instructional Manual for the Nation: Boris Akunin’s History of the Russian State Stephen M. Norris Part Five: New Pseudonyms and Projects: Anatolii Brusnikin and Akunin-Chkhartishvili 11. "Under the Wide-Branching Cranberry": Stiob and Allusion in Anatoly Brusnikin’s The Ninth Saviour Yekaterina Severts 12. The Family Album: Ordinary People in Extraordinary Circumstances Elena V. Baraban Part Six: Boris Akunin as a Literary and Commercial Project 13. Socialist Realism Inside-Out: Boris Akunin and Mass Literature for the Elite Bradley A. Gorski 14. Boris Akunin and Cross-Media Marketing Natalia Erlenkamp 15. Conclusion: A Dozen Questions for Boris Akunin Appendices: Excerpts from Boris Akunin's Untranslated Works 1. Grigorii Chkhartishvili, "If I Were a Newspaper Magnate: Notes of a Restless Cow" (1999), translated by Bradley A. Gorski 2. "A New Karamzin Has Appeared" and "General Introduction" to The History of the Russian State, translated by Stephen M. Norris 3. Excerpt from Boris Akunin, Spy Novel (2005), translated by Stephen M. Norris 4. Excerpt from Anatolii Brusnikin, The Ninth Savior, translated by Yekaterina Severts List of Works by Boris Akunin List of Contributors Index
