Description
Book SynopsisTransnational Russian Studies offers an approach to understanding Russia based on the idea that language, society and culture do not neatly coincide, but should be seen as flows of meaning across ever-shifting boundaries. Our book moves beyond static conceptions of Russia as a discrete nation with a singular language, culture, and history. Instead, we understand it as a multinational society that has perpetually redefined Russianness in reaction to the wider world. We treat Russian culture as an expanding field, whose sphere of influence transcends the geopolitical boundaries of the Russian Federation, reaching as far as London, Cape Town, and Tehran.
Our transnational approach to Russian Studies generates new perspectives on the history of Russian culture and its engagements with, and transformation by, other cultures. The volume thereby simultaneously illuminates broader conceptions of the transnational from the perspective of Russian Studies. Over twenty chapters, we provide case studies based on original research, treating topics that include Russia’s imperial and postcolonial entanglements; the paradoxical role that language plays in both defining culture in national terms, and facilitating transnational communication; the life of things ‘Russian’ in the global arena; and Russia’s positioning in the contemporary globalized world. Our volume is aimed primarily at students and researchers in Russian Studies, but it will also be relevant to all Modern Linguists, and to those who employ transnational paradigms within the broader humanities.
Contributors: Amelia M. Glaser, Cathy McAteer, Connor Doak, Dušan Radunović, Ellen Rutten, Galin Tihanov, Jeanne-Marie Jackson, Julie Curtis, Lara Ryazanova-Clarke, Marijeta Bozovic, Michael Gorham, Olga Maiorova, Philip Ross Bullock, Sergey Tyulenev, Stephen Hutchings, Stephen M. Norris, Tatiana Filimonova, Vera Tolz, Vitaly Nuriev and Vlad Strukov.
Trade ReviewReviews ‘This book is a very sophisticated and accessible discussion of the issues involved with the concept of transnational. It is clear that the use of transnational throughout the volume is no trendy marketing ploy; it is meticulously woven throughout the book and discussed with great nuance and insight.'
Brian James Baer, Kent State University
‘This well-researched and thematically rich book is worth the attention of all who take an interest in what is currently an almost universally despised state, but one with a great cultural heritage.’ Arnold McMillin, Modern Language Review
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
Contributors
Table of Contents
List of Figures and Tables
Introduction: Transnationalizing Russian Studies
Andy Byford, Connor Doak, and Stephen Hutchings
Part I. Nation, Empire, and Beyond
1. Transnational, Multi-National, or Imperial? The Paradoxes of Russia’s (Post-)coloniality
Vera Tolz
2. Gogol'’s Other Coat: Transnationalism in Russia’s Literary Borderlands
Amelia M. Glaser
3. The Empire Strikes East: Cross-Cultural Dynamics in Russian Central Asia
Olga Maiorova
4. Where the Nation Ends: Transnationalism and Affective Space in Post-Soviet Cinema
Dušan Radunović
5. Vladimir Sorokin’s
Telluria: Post-Imperial Eurasia, Fragmented Europe
Tatiana Filimonova
Part II. Beyond and Between Languages
6. World Literature, War, Revolution: The Significance of Viktor Shklovskii’s
A Sentimental Journey Galin Tihanov
7. The Transnational Vladimir Nabokov, or the Perils of Teaching Literature
Marijeta Bozovic
8. Bringing Books across Borders: Behind the Scenes in Penguin Books
Cathy McAteer
9. ‘Sewing up’ the Soviet Politico-Cultural System: Translation in the Multilingual USSR
Sergey Tyulenev and Vitaly Nuriev
10. The Politics of Theatre: ‘New Drama’ in Russian, across Post-Soviet Borders and Beyond
Julie Curtis
Part III. Cultures Crossing Borders
11.
A la russe, mais à l'étranger: Russian Opera Abroad
Philip Ross Bullock
12. On Russian Cinema Going West (and East): Fedor Bondarchuk’s
Stalingrad and Blockbuster History
Stephen M. Norris
13. Queer Transnational Encounters in Russian Literature: Gender, Sexuality, and National Identity
Connor Doak
14. The Russian Novel of Ideas in Southern Africa
Jeanne-Marie Jackson
15. ‘Russian’ Imperfections? A Plea for Transcultural Readings of Aesthetic Trends
Ellen Rutten
Part IV. Russia Going Global
16. Beyond a World with One Master: The Rhetorical Dimensions of Putin’s ‘Sovereign Internet’
Michael Gorham
17. RT and the Digital Revolution: Reframing Russia for a Mediatized World
Stephen Hutchings
18. Meduza: A Russo-Centric Digital Media Outlet in a Transnational Setting
Vlad Strukov
19. Transnational Self and Community in the Talk of Russophone Cultural Leaders in the UK
Lara Ryazanova-Clarke
Index
