Overview

Bringing together an impressive cast of well-respected scholars in the field of modern Russian studies, Russian History through the Senses investigates life in Russia from 1700 to the present day via the senses. It examines past experiences of taste, touch, smell, sight and sound to capture a vivid impression of what it was to have lived in the Russian world, so uniquely placed as it is between East and West, during the last three hundred years. The book discusses the significance of sensory history in relation to modern Russia and covers a range of exciting case studies, rich with primary source material, that provide a stimulating way of understanding modern Russia at a visceral level. Russian History through the Senses is a novel text that is of great value to scholars and students interested in modern Russian studies.

Full Product Details

Author:   Professor Matthew P. Romaniello (Weber State University, USA) ,  Professor Tricia Starks (University of Arkansas, USA)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.621kg
ISBN:  

9781474263139

ISBN 10:   1474263135
Pages:   320
Publication Date:   22 September 2016
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

List of Maps List of Illustrations 1. Introduction: The Sensory in Russian and Soviet History - Alexander M. Martin, University of Notre Dame, USA Part I - Imperial Russia 2. Humoral Bodies in Cold Climates - Matthew P. Romaniello, University of Hawaii, USA 3. Fermentation, Taste and Identity - Alison K. Smith, University of Toronto, Canada 4. Market Pleasures and Prostitution in St. Petersburg - Abby Schrader, Franklin and Marshall College, USA Part II - Revolutionary Russia 5. The Taste, Smell, and Semiotics of Cigarettes - Tricia Starks, University of Arkansas, USA 6. The Sounds, Odors, and Textures of Russian Wartime Nursing - Laurie Stoff, Arizona State University, USA 7. The Taste of Kumyshka and the Debate over Udmurt Culture - Aaron Retish, Wayne State University, USA Part III - Soviet Russia 8. Engineering Tastes: Food and the Senses - Anton Masterovoy, City College of New York, USA 9. Deafness and the Politics of Hearing - Claire Shaw, University of Bristol, UK 10. Sensing Danger: The Red Army during the Second World War - Steven G. Jug, Baylor University, USA Part IV - Reconstructing Russia 11. The Sensory Experience of Martyrdom and Soviet Collective Memory - Adrienne Harris, Baylor University, USA 12. Stalinism’s Sights and Smells in the Films of Aleksei German, Sr. - Tim Harte, Bryn Mawr College, USA Selected bibliography Index

Reviews

A significant contribution to the new history of the senses, this innovative volume offers a panoply of articles showcasing how attention to the senses - touch, smell, sight, hearing, taste - can open up new vistas on some three centuries of Russian history. From travelers' experience of the cold climate in the eighteenth century or the cultural meanings of fermented, sour-tasting Russian rye bread through to soldiers' and nurses' sensory experience of war in the twentieth century, this collection takes readers on a veritable tour of modern Russia, exploring the making of national, imperial, social and gender identities as well as the sensory dimensions of memory, consumption, sociability, and state power. I recommended it to a broad readership. Susan Morrissey, Professor of History, University of California, Irvine, USA The remarkable collection, with its wide ranging, well researched and theoretically informed essays on the experiences of the senses, complements our literature on emotions and is essential reading for everyone interested in Russian and Soviet subjectivity. Joan Neuberger, University of Texas at Austin, USA Russian History through the Senses brings the sensations of the past to life - but this volume also analyses them as a fascinating mirror of cultural meanings. In diverse and stimulating essays the authors make highly original contributions to histories of wars, empire, medicine, economics, cinema, and many other fields of Russian history. Fascinating and stimulating. Dan Healey, Professor of Modern Russian History, Oxford University, UK

With its broad sweep in time and careful attention to issues lying just below the surface, Russian History through the Senses deserves to be read by scholars seeking fresh inspiration from clearly written articles based upon a close examination of new primary sources. * Canadian Slavonic Papers * [A] set of essays that opens doors into long familiar topics and establishes some new and exciting avenues of research ... In addition to its own significant contributions to the history of sensation, this volume suggests that much more worth pursuing may be lurking within the inexpressible realm of the senses. * The Russian Review * The articles in the book are of uniformly high quality, each richly informative. * EuropeNow * A significant contribution to the new history of the senses, this innovative volume offers a panoply of articles showcasing how attention to the senses - touch, smell, sight, hearing, taste - can open up new vistas on some three centuries of Russian history. From travelers' experience of the cold climate in the eighteenth century or the cultural meanings of fermented, sour-tasting Russian rye bread through to soldiers' and nurses' sensory experience of war in the twentieth century, this collection takes readers on a veritable tour of modern Russia, exploring the making of national, imperial, social and gender identities as well as the sensory dimensions of memory, consumption, sociability, and state power. I recommended it to a broad readership. * Susan Morrissey, Professor of History, University of California, Irvine, USA * Russian History through the Senses brings the sensations of the past to life - but this volume also analyses them as a fascinating mirror of cultural meanings. In diverse and stimulating essays the authors make highly original contributions to histories of wars, empire, medicine, economics, cinema, and many other fields of Russian history. Fascinating and stimulating. * Dan Healey, Professor of Modern Russian History, Oxford University, UK * The remarkable collection, with its wide ranging, well researched and theoretically informed essays on the experiences of the senses, complements our literature on emotions and is essential reading for everyone interested in Russian and Soviet subjectivity. * Joan Neuberger, University of Texas at Austin, USA * All the essays are lucidly written. * Slavonic and East European Review *

This study is an engaging interdisciplinary investigation of the sense in the specifically Russian context, which will be useful to those interested in sensory studies, Russian History, everyday culture, literature, and film, as well as those studying discourses on national identity, colonialism, social mobility and social engineering, personal and collective experiences, and memory. * Slavic and East European Journal * With its broad sweep in time and careful attention to issues lying just below the surface, Russian History through the Senses deserves to be read by scholars seeking fresh inspiration from clearly written articles based upon a close examination of new primary sources. * Canadian Slavonic Papers * [A] set of essays that opens doors into long familiar topics and establishes some new and exciting avenues of research ... In addition to its own significant contributions to the history of sensation, this volume suggests that much more worth pursuing may be lurking within the inexpressible realm of the senses. * The Russian Review * The articles in the book are of uniformly high quality, each richly informative. * EuropeNow * A significant contribution to the new history of the senses, this innovative volume offers a panoply of articles showcasing how attention to the senses - touch, smell, sight, hearing, taste - can open up new vistas on some three centuries of Russian history. From travelers' experience of the cold climate in the eighteenth century or the cultural meanings of fermented, sour-tasting Russian rye bread through to soldiers' and nurses' sensory experience of war in the twentieth century, this collection takes readers on a veritable tour of modern Russia, exploring the making of national, imperial, social and gender identities as well as the sensory dimensions of memory, consumption, sociability, and state power. I recommended it to a broad readership. * Susan Morrissey, Professor of History, University of California, Irvine, USA * Russian History through the Senses brings the sensations of the past to life - but this volume also analyses them as a fascinating mirror of cultural meanings. In diverse and stimulating essays the authors make highly original contributions to histories of wars, empire, medicine, economics, cinema, and many other fields of Russian history. Fascinating and stimulating. * Dan Healey, Professor of Modern Russian History, Oxford University, UK * The remarkable collection, with its wide ranging, well researched and theoretically informed essays on the experiences of the senses, complements our literature on emotions and is essential reading for everyone interested in Russian and Soviet subjectivity. * Joan Neuberger, University of Texas at Austin, USA * All the essays are lucidly written. * Slavonic and East European Review *

Author Information

Matthew P. Romaniello is Associate Professor of History at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA. He is the author of The Elusive Empire: Kazan and the Creation of Russia, 1552-1671 (2012), and the co-editor of three volumes, including Tobacco in Russian History and Culture from the Seventeenth Century to the Present (2009) with Tricia Starks. Tricia Starks is Associate Professor of History at the University of Arkansas, USA. She is the author of The Body Soviet: Propaganda, Hygiene and the Revolutionary State (2008) and is completing a monograph on smoking in modern Russia.

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