Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Turgenev and Russian Culture: Essays to Honour Richard Peace by Joe Andrew, Derek Offord, Robert Reid

2010; Modern Humanities Research Association; Volume: 105; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/mlr.2010.0067

2222-4319

Roger Cockrell,

Eastern European Communism and Reforms

1196 Reviews boundary litigation maps, Lindsey Hughes's comparative discussion of the differences in the technique and visual imagery of the portraits of Peter I and his father Alexei, Wortman's discussion of 'lubki of emancipation', CracrafVs essay on the aesthetics ofWitte's monetary reform of 1897,William Rosenbergs fascinating discussion entitled 'Visualizing 1917', and David Shneers important piece on Soviet Jewish photographers, particularly Mark Markov-Grinburgs photographs of the Stutthof concentration camp. Many more of the essays in this collection could be highlighted here as worthy of attention: it is to be hoped that the inadequacy ofmy summary only suggests the richness of this collection. University of Exeter Carol Adlam Turgenev and Russian Culture: Essays toHonour Richard Peace. Ed. by Joe Andrew, Derek Offord, and Robert Reid. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi. 2008. 372 pp. 76. ISBN 978-90-420-2399-4. Why should anyone read Turgenev nowadays? After all, he doesn't have much relevance to today, does he? And, anyway, doesn't he sufferin comparison with the giants of Russian literature, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky? And what, more generally, is the value of studying Russian literature? These are the questions that lie at the heart of this splendid new volume of essays, written in honour ofRichard Peace. The essays, which appear in alphabetical order of author, can be divided into threemain categories. Many of the contributors take a single work by Turgenev as their subject, either confining their analysis to thatwork alone or looking at it in a comparative context. In his discussion ofAsia JoeAndrew explores the narrative structure of the story and the paradoxical nature of its eponymous heroine. Boris Christa focuses on Vestimentary markers', i.e. the choice of clothes as a significant indicator of character, in Rudin. Referring to Turgenev's archetypal distinction between Hamlet and Don Quixote, Christa argues that, in his dress, Rudin Vacillates between the two' (p. 132). Neil Cornwell takes as his starting-point First Love in a wide-ranging comparative analysis that includes works by Nabokov, Beckett, Ian McEwan, and John Banville. Eric de Haard shows how the use of poetry, particularly that of Pushkin, reflects important thematic aspects of the narrative ofA Quiet Spot (Zatish'e). Two essays are devoted to Turgenev's best-known play,A Month in theCountry.Whereas Ros Dixon focuses on Anatolii Efros's production of the 1970s and the challenge itposed to Stanislavskii's ideas, Cynthia Marsh surveys post-war British productions of the play, paying particular attention to differences in translation and consequent changes in theBritish view of theRussian character. Michael Pursglove looks at Smoke, showing us the interplay between Turgenev and Tiutchev and theway inwhich the poet's negative response to thenovel sowed the seeds of discord between them. In a detailed discussion ofA Hunters Sketches Robert Reid asks whether the stories are primarily socio-political in intent or more concerned with Russia's condition and destiny. In answering this question Reid applies the ideas of thephilosopher C. S. Peirce, concluding that ultimately the stories are ambivalent since they Tack narrative closure' (p. 328). MLR, 105.4, 2010 ii97 Finally, in this section, Claire Whitehead argues that, despite many criticisms of thework, not least fromTurgenev himself, Phantoms can nevertheless be regarded as a notable landmark in the history of the genre of the fantastic* (p. 360). The second group of essays relates to themes that run through Turgenev's work. In a wide-ranging discussion Leon Burnett engages with Turgenevs perception of Russia as a sphinx, comparing Bazarov to Oedipus, and pointing to the ambiguity of the Russian word zagadka, which does double duty for both 'riddle' and 'enigma (p. 119). Richard Peace shows us the darker side of Turgenev, giving striking examples of his affinitywith Dostoevsky. Alexandra Smith discusses the ways in which Marina Tsvetaeva's poetry and autobiography are informed and inspired by Turgenevs Goethian outlook, with his emphasis on the need forharmony and wholeness within the human personality. Finally, six essays focus on authors other than Turgenev. Michael Basker offers a detailed textual analysis ofNikolai Iazykov's poem SpringNight, with particular reference to its versification, literary context, and ideological resonance. Tony Briggs argues that the libretto of Bizet's...