Description
Book SynopsisThis innovative book presents some fundamentally new interpretations of the best-known and best-loved classics of Russian literature. It does so by applying to them the latest Western research on creativity and literary theory. Readers will come away from the book with an enhanced understanding of individual works by classic authors such as Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky as well as of the overall evolution of nineteenth-century Russian literature.
Trade Review"Curtis’ interjection of Russian terms, together with their English translations, gives a very pleasant feeling to the book. And one gets the Slavic emotions when he translates such Russianisms as
tser’kovnost’ as 'churchiness.' When Curtis makes assertions or arguments it is never done with dogmatism – he rather invites discussion and argument." – Irwin Weil, Professor Emeritus of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Northwestern University
Table of ContentsPreface – The Critical Legacy of the Twentieth Century and Russian Studies Today – Russia and Russian Literature in the Nineteenth Century: Some General Remarks – The Biographical and Literary Contexts of the Russian Classic Writers – The Arrival Motif and the Monoplot of the Russian Classics – Metaphor is to Dostoyevsky as Metonymy is to Tolstoy – Why Are Russian Novels So Long? – A Proposed Periodization of Russian Literature, 1825- 1918 – Epilogue: The Heart of Russian Literature – Conclusion – Bibliography – Index.
