Overview

Victor Zhivov's Language and Culture in Eighteenth-Century Russia is one of the most important studies ever published on eighteenth-century Russia. Historians and students of Russian culture agree that the creation of a Russian literary language was key to the formation of a modern secular culture, and this title traces the growth of a vernacular language from the ""hybrid Slavonic"" of the late seventeenth century through the debates between ""archaists and innovators"" of the early nineteenth century. Zhivov's study is an essential work on the genesis of modern Russian culture; the aim of this translation is to make it available to historians and students of the field.

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9781618118073

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Reviews

Zhivov (Deputy Director, Institute of Russian Language, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia) connects the histories of language and culture in 18th century Russia, describing his main theme as language and power, by which he means that language is not merely a system of signs that makes communication possible but an instrument of human ambitions, desires and passion. He traces the formation of Russian literary language through describing the history of codification, how the need for a polyfunctional liguistic standard came to be realized, and how that standard was modified to meet the needs of the situation. He also addresses the institutional components of this history, discussing the role of the Academy of Sciences in codifying the Russian language, as well as the establishment of popular schools and their impact on literary standards and their general acceptance. --(Annotation (c) 2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Author Information

Viktor Zhivov (PhD Moscow University) was a professor at UC Berkeley and the Russian Language Institute of the Academy of Sciences, Moscow. His publications included Ocherki istoricheskoi morfologii russkogo iazyka XVII-XVIII veka (2004), Razyskaniia voblasti istorii i predystorii russkoi kul'tury (2002), and Jazyk I kul'tura v Rossii XVIII veka. Professor Zhivov passed away in April 2013.

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