Overview

Russia, once compared to a giant sphinx, is often considered in the Anglophone world an alien culture, often threatening and always enigmatic. Although recognizably European, Russian culture also has mystical features, including the idiosyncratic phenomenon of Russian irrationalism. Historically, Russian irrationalism has been viewed with caution in the West, where it is often seen as antagonistic to, and subversive of, the rational foundations of Western speculative philosophy. Some of the remarkable achievements of the Russian irrationalist approach, however, especially in the artistic sphere, have been recognized and even admired, though not sufficiently investigated. Bridging the gap between intellectual cultures, Olga Tabachnikova discusses such fundamental irrationalist themes as language and the linguistic underpinning of culture; the power of illusion in national consciousness; the changing relationship between love and morality; the cultural roots of humour, as well as the relevance of various individual writers and philosophers from Pushkin to Brodsky to the construction of Russian irrationalism.

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9781501324741

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Reviews

Olga Tabachnikova moves gracefully through a huge range of sources and comes up with original insights. An important and enjoyable book. * Robert Chandler, award-winning translator of Alexander Pushkin, Andrey Platonov and Vasily Grossman, and co-editor of The Penguin Book of Russian Poetry (2015). * Aside from providing interesting and fresh insights for a possible definition of Russian irrationalism, one of this volume’s virtues is that it views the rational/irrational antithesis not so much through the lens of categories taken from the Enlightenment or from nineteenth-century philosophy, but from a contemporary and, in many ways, more complex and multifaceted perspective. * The Russian Review * A rich and rewarding book. The most productive way to read it is to stop looking for a consistent theory of irrationalism, to suspend judgement about the observation of scholarly norms, and enjoy each essay on its own considerable merits. Tabachnikova is supremely at home in the modern Russian literary tradition and writes about it with a fluent confidence. She is consistently thoughtprovoking and engaging, even where one disagrees with her. * Modern Language Review * Taking as a premise that for Russians, thinking is both intellectual and spiritual activity, Olga Tabachnikova embarks on a wide ranging study, skillfully navigating between her literary, philosophical and artistic sources, and weaving a nuanced and exhilarating tapestry of Russian encounters with the existential and mundane, humorous and tragic. * Vladimir Golstein, Associate Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Brown University, USA * The title of this book does not adequately signal its scope: these essays comprise a wide-ranging meditation on Russian cultural history, Russian language and literature, and 'Russianness.' At their best, they interrogate the conventional terms of such discussions. An opinionated, bold work with many surprising juxtapositions. * Michael Finke, Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA *

Olga Tabachnikova moves gracefully through a huge range of sources and comes up with original insights. An important and enjoyable book. * Robert Chandler, award-winning translator of Alexander Pushkin, Andrey Platonov and Vasily Grossman, and co-editor of The Penguin Book of Russian Poetry (2015). * Aside from providing interesting and fresh insights for a possible definition of Russian irrationalism, one of this volume's virtues is that it views the rational/irrational antithesis not so much through the lens of categories taken from the Enlightenment or from nineteenth-century philosophy, but from a contemporary and, in many ways, more complex and multifaceted perspective. * The Russian Review * A rich and rewarding book. The most productive way to read it is to stop looking for a consistent theory of irrationalism, to suspend judgement about the observation of scholarly norms, and enjoy each essay on its own considerable merits. Tabachnikova is supremely at home in the modern Russian literary tradition and writes about it with a fluent confidence. She is consistently thoughtprovoking and engaging, even where one disagrees with her. * Modern Language Review * Taking as a premise that for Russians, thinking is both intellectual and spiritual activity, Olga Tabachnikova embarks on a wide ranging study, skillfully navigating between her literary, philosophical and artistic sources, and weaving a nuanced and exhilarating tapestry of Russian encounters with the existential and mundane, humorous and tragic. * Vladimir Golstein, Associate Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Brown University, USA * The title of this book does not adequately signal its scope: these essays comprise a wide-ranging meditation on Russian cultural history, Russian language and literature, and 'Russianness.' At their best, they interrogate the conventional terms of such discussions. An opinionated, bold work with many surprising juxtapositions. * Michael Finke, Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA *

Olga Tabachnikova moves gracefully through a huge range of sources and comes up with original insights. An important and enjoyable book. Robert Chandler, award-winning translator of Alexander Pushkin, Andrey Platonov and Vasily Grossman, and co-editor of The Penguin Book of Russian Poetry (2015). Taking as a premise that for Russians, thinking is both intellectual and spiritual activity, Olga Tabachnikova embarks on a wide ranging study, skillfully navigating between her literary, philosophical and artistic sources, and weaving a nuanced and exhilarating tapestry of Russian encounters with the existential and mundane, humorous and tragic. Vladimir Golstein, Associate Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Brown University, USA The title of this book does not adequately signal its scope: these essays comprise a wide-ranging meditation on Russian cultural history, Russian language and literature, and 'Russianness.' At their best, they interrogate the conventional terms of such discussions. An opinionated, bold work with many surprising juxtapositions. Michael Finke, Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA Aside from providing interesting and fresh insights for a possible definition of Russian irrationalism, one of this volume's virtues is that it views the rational/irrational antithesis not so much through the lens of categories taken from the Enlightenment or from nineteenth-century philosophy, but from a contemporary and, in many ways, more complex and multifaceted perspective. The Russian Review

Olga Tabachnikova moves gracefully through a huge range of sources and comes up with original insights. An important and enjoyable book. Robert Chandler, award-winning translator of Alexander Pushkin, Andrey Platonov and Vasily Grossman, and co-editor of The Penguin Book of Russian Poetry (2015). Taking as a premise that for Russians, thinking is both intellectual and spiritual activity, Olga Tabachnikova embarks on a wide ranging study, skillfully navigating between her literary, philosophical and artistic sources, and weaving a nuanced and exhilarating tapestry of Russian encounters with the existential and mundane, humorous and tragic. Vladimir Golstein, Associate Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Brown University, USA The title of this book does not adequately signal its scope: these essays comprise a wide-ranging meditation on Russian cultural history, Russian language and literature, and 'Russianness.' At their best, they interrogate the conventional terms of such discussions. An opinionated, bold work with many surprising juxtapositions. Michael Finke, Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA

Author Information

Olga Tabachnikova is a Lecturer in Russian Studies at the University of Central Lancashire and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Bath, UK. She holds a PhD in Mathematics and a PhD in Russian Literature and Philosophy. Previously she worked as a Research Officer and a Lecturer in Russian Cultural Studies at the University of Bath, and held a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at the Russian Department of the University of Bristol, UK, as well as the Entente Cordiale Scholarship to the Sorbonne, France.

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