Metamorphoses in Russian Modernism
Edited by Peter I. Barta, Head of Russian Studies
at the University of Surrey
"Peter Barta's book gives us an in-depth insight
into the abiding vitality of the Greek and Latin classic
heritage in twentieth-century Russian culture and, by
concentrating on a well-chosen selection of examples
of the poetic exploitation of metamorphosis as subject,
device and philosophical tenet, achives a sharpness
of focus which might have been missing from a more general
symposium on Greco-Roman mythical subtext."
- Slavonic and East European Review
"Readers will find much of interest in all of
the articles, which detail the relevance of the Classical
tradition as will as its modern variants... Well-grounded
theoretically, yet still closely concerned with the
original texts, the essays in this volume represent
the best this kind of thematic study has to offer. The
topic is timely, broad, and interdisciplinary... Well
edited and nicely produced by the Central European University
Press, Metamorphoses in Russian Modernism belongs
in research libraries everywhere." - Slavic
and East European Journal
"... a stimulating and informative volume, recommended
to anyone with an interest in Russian modernism."
- Slavonica
Modern Russia has been shaped by Peter the Great's
sudden attempt to transform it into a European country.
Since shapeshifting and identity are so closely linked
in Russian history, it is hardly surprising that metamorphosis
is a prevalent - albeit hitherto neglected - theme in
Russian literature. Metamorphoses in Russian Modernism
provides the first detailed account of metamorphosis
as a Russian theme, structuring principle, and source
of artistic identity.
Barta examines how the magical transformations depicted
in the ancient classics and in the oral epic heritage
resonate in Russian literature and film at the fin de
siècle and the early decades of the twentieth century
- a period of dynamic change in Russian culture. Two
hundred years after Peter's forceful westernization
and facing its second crucial transformation in 1917,
Russia witnessed the decay of classic realism and positivism
and the rise of irrational philosophies, psychoanalysis,
artistic experimentation, Marxism, as well as the birth
of the new genre of film. This in-depth volume examines
metamorphosis in the works of prominent representatives
of the divided Russian intelligentsia: the Symbolists;
the most famous émigré writer, Nabokov; Olesha, the
'fellow traveller' attempting to find his place in the
Soviet state; the enthusiastic poet of the Bolshevik
movement, Maiakovskii; and finally, Russia's greatest
film director, Sergei Eisenstein.
The volume directs attention to the fact that Russia
itself is a metamorph. The shapeshifter always retains
features of previous identities and is sometimes capable
of returning into previous forms; whether today's Russia
will want to, or be able to do so, remains to be seen.
It is futile to attempt to try to understand this civilisation
- let alone predict its future - without considering
the intellectual, social and emotional reasons why it
is not at rest with itself. It is to this end that this
volume hopes to make a contribution.
Contents
Introduction: Russian literature and the metamorphic
theme Part 1: Echo and Narcissus in Russian symbolism
Part 2: The transformation myth in Russian modernism
Part 3: Pythagoras and the butterfly: Nabakov's
Ovidian metamorphosis Part 4: Ovidian intertexts
in Olesha's 'The Cherry Stone' Part 5: Sansculotte
improvisors and clouds in trousers: poetic metamorphosis
in Pushkin and Maiakovskii Part 6: Savage thinking:
metamorphosis in the cinema of S.M. Eisenstein
2000
200 pages
ISBN 978-963-9116-90-0 cloth $44.95 / €37.95 / £ 26.95
ISBN 978-963-9116-91-7 paperback $21.95 / €18.95 / £
13.95
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