Awards

• Short-listed for AATSEEL Book Prize 2023 (United States)
• Winner of IRSCL Book Award 2023 (United States)

Overview

Haunted Dreams is the first comprehensive study in English devoted to cultural representations of adolescence in Russia since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. Jenny Kaminer situates these cultural representations within the broader context of European and Anglo-American scholarship on adolescence and youth, and she explores how Russian writers, dramatists, and filmmakers have repeatedly turned to the adolescent protagonist in exploring the myriad fissures running through post-Soviet society. Through close analysis of prose, drama, television, and film, this book maps how the adolescent hero has become a locus for multiple anxieties throughout the tumultuous years since the end of the Soviet experiment. Kaminer also directly addresses some of the pivotal questions facing scholars of post-Soviet Russia: Have Soviet cultural models been transcended? Or do they continue to dominate? The figure of the adolescent, an especially potent and enduring source of cultural mythology throughout the Soviet years, provides provocative material for exploring these questions. In Haunted Dreams, Kaminer employs a historical approach to reveal how fantasies of adolescence have mutated and remained constant across the Soviet/post-Soviet divide, focusing on violence, temporality, and gender and the body. Some of the works discussed present the possibility of salvaging the model of the heroic adolescent for a new society. Others, by contrast, relegate this figure to the dustbin of history by evoking disgust or horror, or by unmasking the tragic consequences that ensue from the combination of adolescence, violence, and fantasy.

Full Product Details

9781501762192

Table of Contents

Reviews

[A] profound and multi-faceted analysis, a deep insight into Russian culture. In light of the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, the importance of engaging with the discussions and conclusions initiated by Kaminer's book becomes ever more necessary[.] * International Research Society for Children's Literature * For students and scholars of youth studies, this book is an essential starting place The lucid and succinct descriptions of film and drama, in particular the cinematic oeuvre of Anna Melikian, understudied until now, nestle these contemporary works neatly within the Slavic Studies field through approaches that continue to be of interest. * Russian Review * Jenny Kaminer's Haunted Dreams provides an excellent examination of contemporary Russian cultural productions featuring young people across diverse popular genres. She reinforces her discussions with sophisticated presentations of historical contexts and comparative analyses of primary sources. * International Research Society for Children's Literature *

[A] profound and multi-faceted analysis, a deep insight into Russian culture. In light of the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, the importance of engaging with the discussions and conclusions initiated by Kaminer's book becomes ever more necessary[.] * International Research Society for Children's Literature *

[A] profound and multi-faceted analysis, a deep insight into Russian culture. In light of the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, the importance of engaging with the discussions and conclusions initiated by Kaminer's book becomes ever more necessary[.] * International Research Society for Children's Literature *

A profound and multi-faceted analysis, a deep insight into Russian culture. In light of the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, the importance of engaging with the discussions and conclusions initiated by Kaminer's book becomes ever more necessary. * International Research Society for Children's Literature * For students and scholars of youth studies, this book is an essential starting place. The lucid and succinct descriptions of film and drama, in particular the cinematic oeuvre of Anna Melikian, understudied until now, nestle these contemporary works neatly within the Slavic Studies field through approaches that continue to be of interest. * Russian Review * Jenny Kaminer's Haunted Dreams provides an excellent examination of contemporary Russian cultural productions featuring young people across diverse popular genres. She reinforces her discussions with sophisticated presentations of historical contexts and comparative analyses of primary sources. * International Research Society for Children's Literature *

Author Information

Jenny Kaminer is Associate Professor of Russian at the University of California, Davis. She is the author of Women with a Thirst for Destruction.

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