Prodigal Son: Vasilii Shuksin in Soviet Russian Culture Contributor(s): Givens, John (Author) |
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ISBN: 0810117703 ISBN-13: 9780810117709 Publisher: Northwestern University Press OUR PRICE: $79.15 Product Type: Hardcover Published: June 2000 Annotation: A wildly prolific director, actor, and writer, Vasilii Shukshin (1929-74) reached more Soviets in more media than perhaps any other artist in the post-Stalinist USSR. This first English-language study of Shukshin and his work is thus a portrait of the culture of Soviet Russia after Stalin. John Givens begins with Shukshin's position between cultural realms and social strata: his abandoned peasant heritage in Siberia as the son of a purged kulak on the one hand and his life as a successful artist in Moscow on the other. Givens shows how this clash of cultures and identities was both a burden and the driving force of Shukshin's art -- and how it represents a central dichotomy between rural and urban culture in Soviet Russia. This work provides new terms for rereading the culture of Shukshin's time -- terms that take up notions of demographic displacement, class difference, and blurred boundaries among genres, audiences, and arts. |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | Russian & Former Soviet Union |
Dewey: 891.734 |
LCCN: 00008699 |
Series: Studies in Russian Literature and Theory (Hardcover) |
Physical Information: 1.06" H x 6.42" W x 9.57" (1.26 lbs) 267 pages |
Themes: - Cultural Region - Eastern Europe - Cultural Region - Russia |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: A wildly prolific director, actor, and writer, Vasilii Shukshin (1929-74) reached more Soviets in more media than perhaps any other artist in the post-Stalinist USSR. This first English-language study of Shukshin and his work is thus a portrait of the culture of Soviet Russia after Stalin. John Givens begins with Shukshin's position between cultural realms and social strata: his abandoned peasant heritage in Siberia as the son of a purged kulak on the one hand and his life as a successful artist in Moscow on the other. Givens shows how this clash of cultures and identities was both a burden and the driving force of Shukshin's art-and how it represents a central dichotomy between rural and urban culture in Soviet Russia.This work provides new terms for rereading the culture of Shukshin's time- terms that take up notions of demographic displacement, class difference, and blurred boundaries among genres, audiences, and arts. |