Fragile, gritty, and vital to an extraordinary degree, St Petersburg is one of the world's most alluring cities - a place in which the past is at once ubiquitous and inescapably controversial. This book shows how creative engagement with the past has always been fundamental to St Petersburg's residents.
Focusing on Russian women's writing, this groundbreaking volume offers a comprehensive history from a feminist viewpoint, spanning from 1820 to 1992. It features a detailed analysis of significant periods and highlights both renowned authors like Akhmatova and Tsevtaeva and lesser-known figures such as Elena Gan and Nadezhda Teffi. By utilizing rare literary sources, Catriona Kelly recontextualizes these writers, providing fresh insights into their contributions. The text includes extensive quotations in Russian with English translations, enriching the reader's understanding.
Explores the place and importance of literature in Russian culture. How and when did a Russian national literature come into being? What shaped its creation? How have the Russians regarded their literary language? This book uses the figure of Pushkin, 'the Russian Shakespeare', as an example. schovat popis
Set against the backdrop of the Russian modernist era, this collection of essays explores the profound interactions between literature and visual arts, highlighting the collaborative spirit among writers, artists, and directors. Scholars from various backgrounds analyze the creative tensions that emerged as art forms blended, showcasing the dynamic energy of Russian culture during this transformative period. The essays reveal how these interactions not only enriched artistic expression but also challenged traditional boundaries, fostering innovation and creativity.
In Russia, food has a hugely important role in political, symbolic, and practical terms. In this illuminating history of Russian food in the modern age, Catriona Kelly – a leading cultural historian and keen amateur cook – reflects on this and an environment where what you eat (and drink) indicates how patriotic you are. Kelly argues that an expectation of 'feeding' is embedded in attitudes to the state as provider, and that rationing systems have traditionally replicated and even enforced social hierarchies. The book looks at how Russian food is intimately connected with family and friends, and was an important source of delight even in the Soviet period, when official culinary provision and practices ostensibly sought to promote nutrition above all, and food was often short. Russian Food since 1800 traces these complex and contradictory associations. It also examines various shifts in diet and cuisine over the last three centuries, including the ways in which old traditions such as pickling and jam-making sit alongside wider world influences from the vast imperial hinterland in the Baltic, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, as well as Western Europe and America.