Description
Book SynopsisThis volume widens the field of Soviet literature studies by interpreting it as a multinational project, with national literatures acting not as copies of the Russian model, but as creators of a multidimensional literary space. The book proposes a reconsideration of Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of literary field and analyzes the interactions of literature, power, and economics under the communist rule. The articles selected include theoretical discussions and case studies from different national literatures presenting different structural elements of the Soviet literary field, as well as different phenomena created by the complexity of the field itself, such as the Aesopian language, state of emergency literature, or compromise as the essential element of the writers’ identity.
Trade Review“This collection brings a variety of perspectives to bear on the role and significance of literature in the USSR, specifically on the nature and function of what the editors call Soviet multinational literature. … This volume meets its stated ambition of overcoming the ‘dualistic schemes’ that often afflict research on Soviet literature through a judicious application of the concept of the literary field. The book should be of interest to students and teachers of history, politics, literature, Soviet studies, and related fields. It has a unique value for its sophisticated treatment of the subject matter and coverage of non-Russian literatures of the former USSR.” —Violeta Davoliūtė, Lithuanian Culture Research Institute, Lithuanian Historical Studies, vol. 23
“This volume meets its stated ambition of overcoming the ‘dualistic schemes’ that often afflict research on Soviet literature through a judicious application of the concept of the literary field. The book should be of interest to students and teachers of history, politics, literature, Soviet studies, and related fields. It has a unique value for its sophisticated treatment of the subject matter and coverage of non-Russian literatures of the former USSR.”
—Violeta Davoliūtė, Lithuanian Culture Reseach Institute, Lithuanian Historical Studies
“The great merit of this book is the fact that it attempts to go beyond the borders of studies dedicated to a specific national literature, and offers a suitable methodology for this effort. There is now a dire lack of volumes that present Soviet culture as multinational and multilingual and offer new methods of its analysis. Jurgutienė and Satkauskytė’s volume is a successful example of a discussing multinational Soviet literature.”
— Yulia Kozitskaya,
Ab ImperioTable of Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- Dalia Satkauskytė
- Soviet Literature as Theoretical and Historical Problem
- Soviet Multinational Literature: Approaches, Problems, and Perspectives of Study
- Evgeny Dobrenko
- The Role of Aesopian Language in the Literary Field: Autonomy in Question
- Dalia Satkauskytė
- Between Universalism and Localism: The Strategies of Soviet Lithuanian Writers and “Sandwiched” Lithuanian Ethnic Particularism
- Vilius Ivanauskas
- Contradictions in Lithuanian Literary Field
- Atheist Autobiography: Politics, the Literary Canon, and Restructured Experience
- Nerija Putinaitė
- Sartre and de Beauvoir Encounter the Pensive Christ
- Solveiga Daugirdaitė
- The Production of Eimuntas Nekrošius’s Kvadratas as a Palimpsest of Soviet-Era Memory
- Loreta Mačianskaitė
- The Experiences of One Generation of Soviet Poets, Their Illusions and Choices
- Donata Mitaitė
- The Art of Compromise in Literary Criticism that Legitimated Soviet-era Modernism
- Aušra Jurgutienė
- Hermeneutics of Truth and Compromise in Literatures of Other Soviet Republics
- Ukrainian Literature of the Late Soviet Period: The History of Three Generations of Poets
- Valentyna Kharkhun
- State of Emergency Literature: Varlam Shalamov Vs. “Progressive Humanity”
- Pavel Arsenev
- Reading Literary History through the Archives: The Case of the Latvian Literary Journal Karogs
- Eva Eglāja-Kristsone
- Hamlet and Folklore as Elements of the Resistance Movement in Estonian Literature
- Anneli Mihkelev
- Index
- Biographical Notes
