Constructing Russian Culture offers a pioneering new account of the relationship between literature and other cultural forms in Late Imperial Russia and Revolutionary Russia. The general consensus in Western study of Russia and the Soviet Union has been that understanding of `historical background' is essential to the study of `literature'. But this consensus has so far failed to produce sophisticated overviews of the culture as a whole; literary histories seldom venture outside a rigid canon of authors and literary groupings, and the account of `historical background' sometimes amount to little more than a listing of certain predictable political and social factors that can be perceived to have `influenced' (or impeded) literary developments. This book is an ambitious attempt to recontextualize Russian literature, and rethink the relations between literature and other cultural forms. The book examines a number of, in Bourdieu's term `cultural fields' in late Imperial Russia: science and objectivity; national and personal identity; consumerism and commercial culture. There is also a `keywords' introduction explaining the evolution of concepts of the self, the nation, and `literariness' in Russian culture, and an `Epilogue' outlining the further history of the central themes after 1917. Contributors include leading specialists in Russian literature, cultural history, and cultural theory from Britain, the USA, and Russia. Intended as a companion to Russian Cultural Studies: An Introduction (also OUP), this stimulating, original, and controversial book will be a vital resource for all those interested in Russian culture during `the age of Revolution'.

About the Author
David Shepherd is Professor of Russian, founder and Director of the Bakhtin Centre, University of Sheffield Catriona Kelly is University Lecturer in Russian and Fellow at New College, Oxford

Reviews
Reviewed with Russian Cultural Studies by the same authors, "The two books are kind to the reader...Parts and paragraphs have got attractive and orientated titles...Many illustrations..The reviewed publication in two volumes gives a good view of the problems of Russian Culture", Prof. Dr. Witold Kosny, University of Rostock
Reviewed with Russian Cultural Studies by the same authors: "Two wide-ranging, stimulating and hugely impressive volumes...one should not underestimate the enormous and invaluable contribution this ambitious project makes to our understanding of Russia and Russian culture." Graham Roberts, University of Surrey
'The successive essays ... traverse a vast panorama, often with insight and panache. ... this volume's many achievements make its appearance a milestone in Russian studies.' Slavic Review



Book Information
ISBN 9780198742357
Author Catriona Kelly
Format Paperback
Page Count 372
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 577g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 157mm * 20mm