Chekhov 2004 by Joe Andrew, Robert Reid

Abstract

MLR, I03.3, 2oo8 9I9 public', while the following chapters proceed fromFrazier's acknowledgement of the incommensurability ofmaterial realities of readership with thepersonae of 'reader' and 'writer' that emerge from various Romantic narrative conventions (Frazier re minds us thatsuch play of identitieswas characteristic not only of Senkovskii but also of such authors as Scott and Constant, as well as Pushkin, Gogol, and Odoevskii). The final chapters discuss the imaginary spaces created in Senkovskii's writings: these include the 'library' itself, the antiquarian past, and theOrient. Here, Frazier discusses Russia's own brand of orientalism (inwhich, of course, Senkovskii, as the holder of the St Petersburg University Chair ofArabic and Turkic languages, was an expert, as were his alter egos, 'Osip Morozov' the orientalist travelwriter, and 'Tiutiun'dzhiu-Oglu-Mustafa-Aga', "'actual Turkish philosopher"' (p. 155)). Like Monika Greenleaf, as well as Ewa M. Thompson and Susan Layton elsewhere, Fra zier exposes the aporia inEdward Said's arguments with regard toRussia, which, in Frazier's words, 'leave no room for an Orientalizing power as uncertain of itsplace between East andWest as Russia'. There is insufficientspace ina review of this length todojustice to the multiple con tributions to our understanding of Russian literaryhistory and nineteenth-century culture thatFrazier's study offers.This is an intriguing, thoroughly researched, and elegantly written work of scholarship, that should rightlyoblige us to reconsider our preconceptions of the nineteenth-century canon both in and beyond Russia of the I830s. UNIVERSITY OF EXETER CAROL ADLAM Chekhov 2004. Vol. I:Aspects of Chekhov; vol. II: Chekhov and Others (=Journal of theBritish Neo-Formalist Circle, Special Issue, vols I-2). Ed. by JOEAN DREW and ROBERT REID. (Essays in Poetics, 30-3 i) Keele: Keele University Students Union Press. Autumn 2005 (vol. i);Autumn 2006 (vol. ii). v+253 pp. (vol. I); vi+368 pp. (vol. ii). ?24 (each). ISBN 978-o-9509080-9-o (vol. I); 978-o-9553138-0-6 (vol. ii). Thirty-five conference papers in two volumes, in this case as inmany others, have about asmuch in common as thirty-fivepassengers in an aircraft sharing only their airports of origin and destination. All the contributions are about Chekhov, all tend towork from a text outwards, but even the now meaningless label 'neo-formalism' has no binding force.The editors have organized thepapers into a volume examining the critical treatment, real or imaginary, of a Chekhov work, and a volume of 'inter textuality'where Chekhov's debt to others, or others' debt toChekhov, is the theme. Within the volumes, papers are put in alphabetical order of contributors' surnames. All papers but one (written inRussian by aGerman) are inEnglish. The most interesting passenger in the aircraft is usually the one with the bomb, and somewhat surprisingly Laurence Senelick, the respected American Chekhovian, commits an effective act of terrorismwith his critique 'Looking forChekhov in the Wrong Places', which explores some of themiscarriages of production performed by Dodin and others on Uncle Vanya: one misses only an exemption forDavid Mamet's Uncle Vanya on 42nd Street. The wittiest contributor (ofpapers inboth volumes) isundoubtedly Harai Golomb with hisDerridean play on heredity, inheritance, and heritage inChekhov and a lesser piece on Chekhov as a structuralist's paradise. Reading these pieces gives one less pleasure than listening to them, but as oftenwith Golomb gates are opened to new avenues in Chekhoviana, a garden whose paths have been overmuch trampled by critics following in each other's traces. 920 Reviews Otherwise only a fewpapers stand out. Birgit Beumers gives a literallygraphic view of how Stanislavsky chopped The Cherry Orchard; Robert Reid shows thatThe Death ofa Civil Servant isbeyond parody, even though grandees such asHegel and Bourdieu seem tobe over-qualified forconducting such an autopsy. Carol Adlam bravely reha bilitates Lillian Hellmann from theobloquy intowhich her Stalinism andmendacity have cast her and shows that through her mistranslation and imitation there is an important glimpse intoChekhov as he was interpreted in themid-twentieth century. Rosamund Bartlett manages to apply theprinciples ofLynne Truss (butwithout the asperity) toChekhov, quite an achievement given the rigidityofRussian punctuation rules, and for the firsttimemakes Chekhov's use of threedots intelligible. JaneGary Harris gives a very unusual survey of Chekhov's reception in...