Russian literature and thought

"Alexander Pushkin's "little tragedies" stand among the great masterpieces of Russian literature, yet they were last translated into English a quarter-century ago and have in recent years been out of print entirely. In this new translation, Nancy K. Anderson preserves the cadence and intensity of Pushkin's work while aligning it with today's poetic practices and freer approach to metrics. In addition she provides critical essays examining each play in depth, a discussion of her approach to translating the plays, and a consideration of the genre of these dramatic pieces and their performability."--BOOK JACKET.

"These autobiographical writings, rich sources of information on Tsvetaeva and her literary contemporaries, are also significant for the insights they provide into the sources and methodology of her difficult poetic language. In addition, they supply a unique eyewitness account of a dramatic period in Russian history, told by a gifted and outspoken poet."--BOOK JACKET.

"Aileen M. Kelly examines a humanist strand of Russian thought that has until now received little notice or understanding. She finds in the writings of Aleksandr Herzen, Anton Chekhov, and Mikhail Bakhtin a pioneering emphasis on the role of chance and contingency in nature and history. Their writing on this theme, she argues, establishes the importance of these humanists in the development of European thought."--BOOK JACKET. "She shows how the view of freedom that Herzen shared with Chekhov and Bakhtin provides an antidote both to traditional absolutes and to the boundless relativism of much postmodern theory. As such it offers an answer to the question now besetting intellectuals in Russia and the West: how to ground morality after the collapse of ideological certainties."--BOOK JACKET.

"The writings of Sergei Bulgakov (1871-1944), like those of other major social thinkers of Russia's Silver Age, were obliterated from public consciousness under Soviet rule. Discovered again after eighty years of silence, Bulgakov's work speaks with remarkable directness of the postmodern listener. This translation of Philosophy of Economy brings to English-language speakers for the first time a major work of social theory written by a critical figure in the Russian tradition of liberal thought.". "What is unique about Bulgakov, Catherine Evtuhov explains in her introduction to this book, is that he bridges two worlds. His social thought is firmly based in the Western tradition, yet some of his ideas reflect a specifically Russian way of thinking about society. Though arguing strenuously in favor of political and social liberty, Bulgakov repudiates the individualistic basis of Western liberalism in favor of a conception of human dignity that is compatible with collectivity. His economic theory stresses the spiritual content of life in the world and imagines national life as a kind of giant household Bulgakov's work, with its singularly postmodern balance between Western and non-Western, offers fascinating implications for those in the process of reevaluating ideologies in post-Soviet Russia and in America as well."--BOOK JACKET.

"Considered one of Russia's greatest philosophers, Vladimir Soloviev (1853-1900) was also a theologian, historian, poet, and social and political critic. His works have emerged to enjoy renewed attention in post-Soviet Russia, and his concerns echo in contemporary discussions of politics, law, and morality. In this collection of Soloviev's essays - many translated into English for the first time - the philosopher explores an array of social issues, from the death penalty to nationalism to women's rights."--BOOK JACKET.

This volume brings the remarkable writings of Russian liberal thinker Boris Nikolaevich Chicherin (1828-1904) to English-language readers for the first time. The collection includes key essays in which Chicherin addresses the central political and social problems that confronted Russia from 1855 to the opening years of the twentieth century. Chicherin's ideological alternatives to the Bolshevik plan for revolutionary transformation of Russia not only provide valuable historical insights but also are highly relevant to current political discussion of liberalism in Russia and in the West.

"One of the most renowned Soviet writers of the twentieth century, Maxim Gorky was an early supporter of the Bolsheviks. He became disillusioned with the turn of events after the 1917 revolution, however, and wrote a series of critical articles for the magazine New Life that eventually caused the new Communist government to close down the publication." "Untimely Thoughts is a collection of these articles. It is at once a brilliant analysis of the Russian national character, a condemnation of the Bolshevik methods of government, and a vision of a future in which respect for individual accomplishment replaces the tyranny of the tsars and the brutality of Russian peasant existence. A controversial book, it was not translated into English until 1968 and was not published in the Soviet Union until 1989. The English edition of Untimely Thoughts is now back in print with a new introduction and chronology by Mark D. Steinberg."--BOOK JACKET.