Overview

One century after the death of Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), his plays are celebrated throughout the world as a major milestone in the history of theatre and drama. Outside the Russian-speaking community, he is undoubtedly the most widely translated, studied and performed of all Russian writers. His plays are characterised by their evasiveness: tragedy and comedy, realism and naturalism, symbolism and impressionism, as well as other labels of school and genre -- all fail to account for the uniqueness of 'Chekhovism', (i.e., the essence of his artistic system and world view). Presence through Absence is a bold attempt to map the unique structure and meaning that comprise Chekhov's immensely rich artistic universe. Golomb's text is an incursion into Chekhov's vision of unrealised potentials and present absences. His timeless works are shown with rare insight and clarity to have artistic principles and coherence above and beyond the scope of the individual play.

Full Product Details

9781903900475

Table of Contents

Reviews

[Harai Golombs work is] A KEY TO CHEKHOV - Prof. Ronald Hingley (1920-2010), Chekhov Scholar and Biographer; Translator and Editor: THE OXFORD CHEKHOV A blast of fresh air [] this book [] gives audience, reader, actor and director all they need [] It breaks through the sludge that has formed in the Chekhov pool [] - From the Foreword by Donald Rayfield, Professor-Emeritus of Russian at Queen Mary College, University of London; Author. Chekhov: A Life; Understanding Chekhov [This] thorough, profound and innovative work on Chekhov is a model for teachers and students [] an inimitable contribution to our understanding of the very nature of literary and dramatic art. - Benjamin Harshav, Professor Emeritus of Comparative and Slavic Literatures, Yale University; Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Author, Explorations in Poetics A unique and extraordinary accomplishment. Professor Golombs masterful study of Chekhov drama and theater [] will be in the pocket of everyone interested in Chekhov and theater. - Robert Louis Jackson, Professor Emeritus of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Yale University; Founding President, North American Chekhov Society. A celebration for the world of Chekhov studies. This book is [] a must for scholars, students, actors, directors, and the general Chekhov-loving public alike. - Vladimir B. Kataev, Professor; Chairman of the Chekhov Commission of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Harai Golombs welcome study [ is] a worthy addition to Chekhov scholarship; [it] draws our attention to alluring new areas [] a wide readership is envisaged from drama and culture students and scholars to theatre goers and practitioners. - Cynthia Marsh, Emeritus Professor of Russian Drama and Literature, University of Nottingham. This book will undoubtedly be recognized as a major contribution, not only to Chekhov studies, [] but to literary studies generally. I am honored to endorse it with the greatest enthusiasm. - Hugh McLean, Professor Emeritus of Russian Literature, University of California, Berkeley The book [] is not only about one great playwright; it also deals with the way we can view theatre and its theory today. [It] is a work of art in itself - Patrice Pavis, Professor of Theatre Studies, University of Kent, Canterbury UK; Professor Emeritus, Sorbonne 8; Author: Dictionary of Theatre; Editor of French edition of Chekhovs plays. Golomb does greater justice to the justice Chekhov himself does to the complexity of the human condition, defined as it is by potentials, realized and unrealized alike. [] invaluable to students at all levels and for directors, actors, and playwrights as well. NO ONE READS CHEKHOVS DRAMA BETTER. - Cathy Popkin, Professor of Russian, Columbia University; Editor, Norton Critical Edition of Chekhovs Selected Stories.

Author Information

Harai Golomb is Professor of Theatre Studies, and also teaches Musicology at Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Arts. He has extensively published and lectured on Chekhov's plays worldwide. This is his first book-length study on the subject.

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