This book explores the major paradoxes of Russian literature as a manifestation of both tragic and ironic contradictions of human nature and national character. Russian literature, from Pushkin and Gogol to Chekhov, Nabokov and to postmodernist writers, is studied as a holistic text that plays on the reversal of such opposites as being and nothingness, reality and simulation, and rationality and absurdity. The glorification of Mother Russia exposes her character as a witch; a little man is transformed into a Christ figure; consistent rationality betrays its inherent madness, and extreme verbosity produces the effect of silence. The greatest Russian writers were masters of spiritual selfaEURO"denial and artistic selfaEURO"destruction, which explains many paradoxes and unpredictable twists of Russian history up to our time.

About the Author
Mikhail Epstein is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Cultural Theory and Russian Literature at Emory University (USA) and Honorary Professor of Durham University (UK). His research interests include new directions in the humanities, contemporary philosophy and religion, Russian literature, and postmodernism. He has authored 30 books, and his works have been translated into 23 languages.

Reviews

Reviewed in the TLS (June 22 2018)

"A study that explicitly avoids a "metanarrative" and seeks instead, with the greatest dexterity, to illuminate its topic in its most diverse manifestations."
"A.S. Brown's impressive translation, together with the volume's strong internal coherence, amply justifies the appearance of a book that shows a remarkable consistency of thought over several decades."
"...Epstein at his most agile and outward-looking..."



Book Information
ISBN 9781618116321
Author Mikhail Epstein
Format Hardback
Page Count 440
Imprint Academic Studies Press
Publisher Academic Studies Press