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Russian Postmodernist Fiction: Dialogue with Chaos
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Comments/Reviews
Description: Mark Lipovetsky takes the reader on a critical tour of twentieth-century Russian literature to develop a specific understanding of Russian postmodernism (Aksyonov, Bitov, Erofeev, Pietsukh, Popov, Sokolov, Tolstaya). In the process he takes on some of the central issues of the critical debate and draws on both Bakhtinian and chaos theory to develop a conception of postmodern poetics as a dialogue with chaos. Lipovetsky concludes by placing Russian literature in the context of this enriched postmodernism. An appendix with extensive bibliographical notes on contemporary Russian writers and literary theorists complements the study.
--First comprehensive study of Russian postmodernism
--Develops original contributions to postmodernist theory
--Provides detailed analysis of the most representative texts of Russian postmodernism
--Places Russian postmodernism in the context of European and North and Latin American postmodernism
--Includes an appendix of biographical and bibliographic information on contemporary Russian writers.
Selected Contents:
I. Introduction
1. Chaos as a System: The Russian Oxymoron; Postmodernism Plus/Minus Modernism?; Intertextual Play; Subverted Dialogism; Dialogue with Chaos as a New Artistic Strategy
II. Culture as Chaos
2. Sacking the Museum: Andrei Bitov's Pushkin House
3. From an Otherwordly Point of View: Venedikt Erofeev's Moscow to the End of the Line
4. The Myth of Metamorphosis: Sasha Sokolov's A School for Fools
5. Active Nonbeing
III. The Poetics of Chaosmos
6. Context: Soviet Utopia: Vasily Aksyonov: Utopia as a Fantasy; Yuz Aleshkovsky: Bodies versus Ideas;
7. Context: Mythologies of Creation: Tatyana Tolstaya: In the Broken Mirror; Sasha Sokolov (1980): Chaos Speaks; Lev Rubinshtein: Creation of the Kaledoscopic Self
8. Context: Mythologies of History: Vyacheslav Pietsukh: ``The Enigma of the Russian Soul'' Revisited; The ``Historical'' Stories of Viktor Erofeyev: An Apotheosis of Particles; Sasha Sokolov (1985): Self-Portrait on a Timeless Background
9. Context: Mythologies of the Absurd: Yevgeny Popov: The Jester's Work; Vladimir Sorokin: Narrative Theater of Cruelty
10. Famous Last Words
IV. Conclusion
11. On the Nature of Russian Postmodernism
Comment(s): "Lipovetsky not only builds a bridge between the East and the West--he walks us across it to that long isolated, daring bit of Russian literature that is now prepared to flow into the international postmodern current. Deeply comprehending modern Western thought and intimately familiar with the new school of Russia, Lipovetsky is a skillful conductor of Russian writers to Western readers." -- Alexander Genis, literary scholar and writer
"In range, insight, and originality, this is a dazzling book. Combining erudition, intellectual boldness, and intimate knowledge of key texts, it sheds light not only on Russian postmodernist prose, but on the international debate around postmodernism at large. In the process, it illustrates the invaluable benefits of marrying theory to close textual reading. Only scholars-as-ostriches can afford not to read this tour de force of a study." -- Helena Goscilo, University of Pittsburgh
"This coherent and systematic exploration of Russian postmodernist fiction sets the model for future researchers. Lipovetsky's approach is neither descriptive nor prescriptive but rather inscriptive: he inscribes Western postmodern theory into the megatext of Russian literary modernism, enormously enriching the range of possible interpretations of both." -- Mikhail Epstein, Emory University
"From the playful fictional scholarship of Andrei Bitov to the drunken ramblings of Venichka Erofeev, from the arch whimsy of Tatyana Tolstaya to the absurdity of Yevgeny Popov, the works discussed in Lipovetsy's book are contemporary classics. For those who have long enjoyed these works, Lipovetsky's readings will provide a radically new perspective, and for those learning of these texts for the first time, Russian Postmodernist Fiction will serve as a worthy introduction to a bizarre, but familiar world." -- From the Editor's Introduction by Eliot Borenstein, New York University
Review(s): Well versed in critical theory and extremely knowledgeable about contemporary fiction, Lipovetsy ... succeeds in proving his hypotheses. ... Helpful appendix of biographical and bibliographic notes on the main writers he discusses and on various other relevant movements and significant events. Choice
Anyone with an interest in Russian postmodernism and contemporary fiction will find this a rewarding book. Slavic Review
Lipovetsky's book is one of the most coherent studies of Russian postmodernist literature to date...Lipovetsky refrains from overtheorizing; he carefully selects the relevant and most helpful theories for each writer, and uses them to develop his own argument in an extremely lucid and informed way...The book also contains an excellent appendix, listing the chief writers studied, with biographies, sources in English and Russian, and secondary reading. The Russian Review
Mark Lipovetsky's lucid monograph makes a distinguished contribution to literature on this vexed topic. ... In addition to notes, references, and index, this well edited book has a very useful appendix of biographical and bibliographical notes relating to some thirty writers and topics. It will be welcomed by students and teachers alike as an admirably lucid attempt to show the ways in which Russian postmodernism is related to its Western counterpart, and to what extent it really is sui generis. This is an excellent book which deserves a very wide readership.
... the most detailed and sustained postmodernist analysis of the major works of contemporary Russian literature to date. ... a coherent and comprehensive picture of a complex subject, producing in the end a study engaging for the specialist and accessible to the general (and undergraduate) reader as well. The book's appendix is especially valuable. Russian Postmodernist Fiction is an important book that no one interested in post-Stalin Russia can afford to ignore. Spring 2001 Vol.45 #1
    
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