Shifting back and forth across centuries, and covering a vast terrain of genres and forms, an expert ensemble of scholars in this rich collection looks incisively at the intricate dynamics of Russian cultural change. Such breadth of scope and multifaceted approach are most illuminating and should help the readers to navigate the complex universe of Russian cultural history.

(Inessa Medzhibovskaya, Professor of Literary and Liberal Studies, Eugene Lang College and The New School for Social Research)

Russian culture has often been referred to as a culture of discontinuity and abrupt rifts, and the country’s past was frequently revised and rewritten, so much so that it is hardly possible to speak of Russian culture as a homogeneous, unified whole. Every turn of Russian history was accompanied by a great cultural upheaval and facilitated fierce cultural debates. The destiny of Russia in the context of its geopolitical position and its cultural role on both domestic and international fronts have been fundamental to these debates. At the same time, such discussions always went deeper, and invariably acquired an existential dimension, probing into the human condition, into the cursed questions of existence .

This volume brings together diverse contributions from an international team of scholars, asking what has sustained Russian cultural development across the centuries and how Russian culture has evolved to this day. It treats the topic from a contemporary frame of reference, covering a broad range of Russian life, literature and arts, and sets the debates in historical perspective. In doing so, it links the particular with the general, exposing some unexpected connections and thus sheds some new light on Russian cultural trajectory.