Books on Russian and Soviet Culture
A large portion of the exhibition is devoted to Russian and Soviet culture. Among the books about Old Russian culture, particularly noteworthy are the collection of essays
Christianity and the Arts in Russia published by Cambridge University Press / Christianity and the Arts in Russia. Ed. Brumfield W. Cambridge, 2008 /. It includes the proceedings of the symposium held in the Library of Congress, which was attended by both domestic and foreign experts. It includes the proceedings of the symposium held in the Library of Congress, which was attended by both domestic and foreign experts.
Among the topics that were embodied in the book are Old Russian music, iconography, architecture, chanting, arts and crafts. Northern Russian wooden architecture, one of the most striking examples of which is the ensemble of Kizhi, is researched in the extensive monograph by David Buxton
Wooden Churches of Eastern Europe. An Introductory Survey / Buxton D. The Wooden Churches of Eastern Europe. An Introductory Survey. Cambridge, 2008 /.
The Canadian Slavist, Professor of the University of Ottawa Douglas Clayton, in his book Dimitry's Shade. A Reading of Alexander Pushkin's Boris Godunov / Clayton J.D. Dimitry's Shade. A Reading of Alexander Pushkin's Boris Godunov. Evanston, 2004 / proposes a new and one might even say 'revolutionary' understanding of the tragedy of the great Russian poet. The author departs from the traditional view of Boris Godunov as the work by a young disgraced poet who hated the Emperor Alexander I, doubted of the usefulness of the autocratic regime and flirted with atheism. In fact, the tragedy reveals that there was a visible gap between Pushkin and the Decembrists and shows the repudiation of his former liberal beliefs. The author demonstrates that the poet's views became more conservative, and he actually supported autocracy. In Boris Godunov, in Clayton's opinion, one can clearly see all three parts of the "theory of official nationality", which became the ideological doctrine of Russian emperor Nicholas I: Orthodoxy, Autocracy, Nationality.
The ideas of subjectivity in the works of the most prominent Russian writers of the 19th century, representatives of the Russian school of psychological realism - Ivan Turgenev, Fyodor Dostoevsky and LeoTolstoy were the subject of a special research of the Canadian Professor Donna Orwin Consequences of Consciousness: Turgenev, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy / Orwin D.T. Consequences of Consciousness. Turgenev, Dostoensky, and Tolstoy. Stanford, 2007 /. The author examines the influence of Western ideas on the development of psychological prose of all the three Russian writers and shows how these ideas were altered according to Russia's specific character. To her mind, the great Russian writers well studied the limits of the subjective consciousness, and in this respect, their books have remained as popular now as before, and the Russian psychological prose has made a significant contribution to world culture, not only to literature but also to practical psychology.
We would like to draw your attention to the richly illustrated book by John Bowlt
Moscow and St.Petersburg in Russia's Silver Age. 1900-1920 / Bowlt J. Moscow and St.Petersburg in Russia's Silver Age. 1900-1920. London, 2008 /. The author examines the visual and material culture of the two Russian capitals in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. It was a period of decline of the Russian empire, but also a time of surprising artistic revival. Most of the creative energy of that time was brought to life by the ideas of Symbolism. The book shows all aspects of Russian culture at that time: literature, art, theater, music and ballet. Along with the well-known figures of Russian culture of the period, the author dwells on the less-known cultural phenomena, such as experimental theater, painting by Nicholas Kolmakov, free dance of Isadora Duncan's followers. Many photos and materials have been published for the first time.
Russian literature of the late 19th - the first third of 20th century is investigated in the study of the French linguist Kathryn Depretto
Formalism in Russia / Depretto C. Le formalism en Russie. Paris, 2009 /. The specialist in Russian culture of the 20th century, lecturer at the Sorbonne, Depretto gives not so much consideration to the history of the movement and its main ideas as the works of the people who created Russian Formalism. These are Yuri Tynyanov, Viktor Shklovsky, Roman Jakobson, Eugene Polivanov, Boris Yarkho, Gregory Winokur. In addition, the author traces the influence of the ideas of the formalism on such well-known poets such as Vladimir Mayakovsky, Yesenin, Osip Mandelstam, Boris Pasternak and Velimir Khlebnikov. At the end of the book is a list of books and articles on Russian formalism, published after 1990.
The Monograph by Catherine Ciepiela
The Same Solitude: Boris Pasternak and Marina Tsvetaeva / Ciepiela C. The Same Solitude: Boris Pasternak and Marina Tsvetaeva. Ithaca, 2006 / tells the reader about one of the most interesting episodes in the history of Russian literature of the 20s-30s of the 20th century - about the correspondence between the two great Russian poets of the twentieth century. In 1922, Marina Tsvetaeva left the Soviet Union, and Boris Pasternak discovered her poetry and sent her an enthusiastic letter. From that moment they began their correspondence which had a great influence on the works of both.
