eBook - ePub

The Soul of Russia

Name: The Soul of Russia
Author: Morris Berman

From Pushkin to Tarkovsky

Morris Berman,

English
ePUB (mobile friendly)
Available on iOS & Android

eBook - ePub

The Soul of Russia

From Pushkin to Tarkovsky

Morris Berman,

About this book

"Ecstasy, witchcraft, bewilderment-these ten loving vignettes on scandalous corners of Russian culture, by one of our most seasoned cultural critics, are a tribute to imperishable art even in our catastrophic time."-Caryl Emerson, Professor Emerita of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Princeton UniversityIn terms of literature, music, and film, it would be hard to outdo the sheer genius and creativity of Russia. These things constitute the soul of the nation, and it is this that Morris Berman explores in his latest work, The Soul of Russia. His central argument is that at the heart of this brilliance lies a particular idiosyncratic theme: the peasant-shamanic-folkloric tradition of the Russian people, which these artists, from Pushkin to Tarkovsky, drew upon for their inspiration. It was a "Dionysian" source, a nonrational one, and it endowed Russian creative work with what we would have to call vibrancy.Berman presents ten Russian artists who have left their indelible imprint on our collective consciousness. Pushkin offers a supernatural puzzle that Russian scholars are still trying to solve to this day. Gogol tells a tale of a man who wakes up to discover he has lost his nose, and goes in search of it-while his nose has simultaneously taken on a life of its own. Andrei Bely, in Petersburg, explains the revolution of 1905 not through traditional sociological or historical analysis, but by means of a surreal panorama of Oedipal events. Chekhov wittily explores the erotic properties of food, while Diaghilev shocks Europe with the great Vaslav Nijinsky and the Ballets Russes. Composing for this radical dance company, Stravinsky manages to alter the face of music forever. Mikhail Bulgakov offers one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, The Master and Margarita, and Tarkovsky responds to Stanley Kubrick's famous 2001: A Space Odyssey by coming up with Solaris, a film based not on superficial American techno-fetishism but on questions of love, reality, and human identity.The Soul of Russia is a feast for the mind, but also for the senses-a book that readers will want to delve into more than once.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.

At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.

Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete

Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.

Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.

We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.

Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.

Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.

Yes, you can access The Soul of Russia by Morris Berman in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Art & Art General. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.