Geschichte der russischen Literatur. Von 1700 bis zur Gegenwart by Reinhard s> Lauer (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 323 MalalasRothe regretsthat neitherAnatoliiAlekseev,Tvorogov nor Thomson gave any reference for Izmail Sreznevskii'sopinion that it was translatedin Bulgaria (p. 56, n. 179): it is to be found in Sbornik Otdeleniia russkogo iazykai slovesnosti, vol. 20, pt. 4, I879, p. I I8. The footnotes have been inadequately proofread and there are too many misprints, e.g. n. I8, 1. 2 Slavjanovdenie; n. 19, 1. 2 ausgebilet; n. I30, 1. 23 ekste; n. I46, 1. 6 Zzbornik, as well as misspelled names, e.g. n. 79, 1. 2 Thompson (= Thomson); n. I52, 1. I: Ehraim; n. 223, 1. io Forssmann (= Forssman),and in one case the wrong name, viz. n. I24, 1. 3 Isacenko (= Ishchenko). However, these are minor details and it must be emphasized that no serious student of the literatureof the Kievan period will read this stimulating 'lecture' without considerable profit. UniversityofAntwerp FRANCISJ. THOMSON Lauer,Reinhard.Gesczichte derrussischen Literatur. VonI700 biszur Gegenwart. Beck,Munich, 2000. 1072 pp. Figures.Bibliographicalreferences.Index. DM 98.oo: E50.II. REINHARD LAUER (b. 1935),professorof Slavonic Studies at the University of Gottingen, has won universalacclaim amongst Slavistsfor his many publications on Bulgarian, Croatian, Serb and, especially, Russian literature and culture of the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Furthermore, he has written extensively on the relationship between German and Slav literatures. His history of Russian literature is an all-encompassing treatise which stands comparison with the standard German books of this kind (Stender-Petersen,Tschizewskij,Kasack)andotherinternationalpublications. It may be regarded as Lauer's crowning work, and certainly deserves to be translatedinto otherlanguages. One of the book'sparticularmeritsisthatit seeksto place Russianliterature and culture not only in a West European, but also in a world context. Like Emmanuel Waegemans's Dutch study, which has been translated into German, Lauer begins with Peter the Great and an analysisof the roots and principal characteristicsof Russian literature, and ends with a review of the situation in autumn 1999, and, finally, some speculation on its future in the new millennium. In each section, detailed analysisis preceded by a synthetic overview. Particularlyvaluable is his treatmentof periods of transitionwhich cannot easilybe reduced to fixed time frames. Lauer's approach could be called holistic: Russian literature'sroots, splits and renewed integration are treated from the perspective of a strong sense of unity, but the subjectis never treatedas a monolithic block. He sees literature as a living organism, as is clear from his heuristicapproach to the discussion of various periods, highlighting difficult questions and avoiding dogmatic classification.Lauer combines study of individual writerswith reviews of the main currents and ages of Russian literaturefrom the Golden age of poetry through Realism, Modernism, Socialist Realism and the three waves of emigration to the divisionsand reintegrationof Russian literatureafter I985, presented as a living process,for all the setbacksand difficulties. 324 SEER, 8o, 2, 2002 It may be thought that such a broad topic might have benefited from a multi-authored treatment, but Lauer's overall perspective brings its own rewardsand reflectshis broad reading of primaryand secondarytexts, as well as a deep understanding of the socio-historical background to his subject. Especially valuable is his outlining of the latter: the reader is constantly informed about the historical and social conditions under which Russian literature came into existence, emphasizing particularly the mechanism of controls and processes of evaluation which were particularlyimportantin the twentieth century. Reinhard Lauer's book benefits greatly from its lack of schematicism and the great sympathyhe clearlyfeels for his subject.It is immensely convenient to use as an up-to-date reference work, both for general topics and for individualwriters,whilst its great readabilityalso lends it something of the air of a historicalnovel in which the hero is Russianliteratureitself. UniversityofMuinster HOLGER GEMBA Kahn, Andrew. Pushkin's'7The BronzeHorseman'. Critical Studies in Russian Literature. Bristol Classical Press, London, I998. iX p I49 pP.Notes. Bibliography.?7.95 (paperback). THIS volume follows the pattern established by its predecessors in this now quite extensive series.Unlike all the other volumes so far, however, it lacksan index, an omission which raisesa more general point. According to the blurb on the back cover of each volume, the series is 'accessibleto the generalreaderaswell as to studentsand teachersof Russian'. The term 'students...