Authors: C. Tomei, Christine D. Tomei
ISBN-13: 9780815317975, ISBN-10: 0815317972
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Taylor & Francis, Inc.
Date Published: December 1998
Edition: (Non-applicable)
A unique contribution to women's studies and Russian literature, this collection of critical/biographical articles and translated excerpts focuses on the literary, cultural, and political contexts of the writings of 71 Russian women authors from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. In its exploration of culture and tradition, this two-volume set is the most ambitious representation of women's writing in Russian in this format, including diverse genres of writing and introducing authors previously neglected in scholarly studies. Most of the translations appear in English for the first time; some are published here for the first time in any language.
This comprehensive work explores a number of issues of concern to the study of women's literature. What role does women's writing have in the canon of Russian literature, and how did it evolve? What has been its relationship to literature by male contemporaries? Why did many of these authors experience declines in popularity? Why have others enjoyed recognition among the greatest writers in the Russian tradition, despite the enigma of their lives? Is there a continuing tradition in the prose of Russian women writers? In offering answers to these and other questions, this encyclopedic project supplies fresh new material for future research and analysis.
This two-volume set presents the work of 71 Russian authors and a critical biography of each one, offering a point of departure for new understanding and appreciation of women's work as well as a foundation for further research. The subjects span the centuries between Catherine the Great and the present. Rather than a chronological or numerical arrangement, emblematic titles represent the time periods. In Volume I, the sections are titles: the age of an empress, a hero of our time, what is to be done, I have forgotten the word I wanted to say, and my sister<-->life. Volume II: the trial begins, the grass of oblivion, and "she is not concerned over the fate of her children." The index is in Volume II. Tomei is associated with The Harriman Institute, Columbia University. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)