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Self and story in Russian history /

Russians have often been characterized as people with souls rather than selves. Self and Story in Russian History challenges the portrayal of the Russian character as selfless, self-effacing, or self-torturing by exploring the texts through which Russians have defined themselves as private persons a...

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Bibliographic Details
Call Number:Libro Electrónico
Other Authors: Engelstein, Laura, Sandler, Stephanie, 1953-
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:Inglés
Published: Ithaca : Cornell University Press, ©2000.
Subjects:
Online Access:Texto completo
Description
Summary:Russians have often been characterized as people with souls rather than selves. Self and Story in Russian History challenges the portrayal of the Russian character as selfless, self-effacing, or self-torturing by exploring the texts through which Russians have defined themselves as private persons and shaped their relation to the cultural community. The stories of self under consideration here reflect the perspectives of men and women from the last two hundred years, ranging from westernized nobles to simple peasants, from such famous people as Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Akhmatova, and Nicholas II to lowly religious sectarians. Fifteen distinguished historians and literary scholars situate the narratives of self in their historical context and show how, since the eighteenth century, Russians have used expressive genres-including diaries, novels, medical case studies, films, letters, and theater-to make political and moral statements. The first book to examine the narration of self as idea and ideal in Russia, this vital work contemplates the shifting historical manifestations of identity, the strategies of self-creation, and the diversity of narrative forms. Its authors establish that there is a history of the individual in Russian culture roughly analogous to the one associated with the West.
Physical Description:1 online resource (ix, 363 pages) : illustrations
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:9781501723933
1501723936