THE ROUTLEDGE COMPANION TO RUSSIAN LITERATURE - Edited by Neil Cornwell

Sep 26, 2026

Comprehensive guide to Russian literature spanning roughly a thousand years, covering Russian writing from the Middle Ages through the post-Soviet period. Explores major forms including poetry, drama, and the Russian novel, with particular attention to nineteenth- and twentieth-century world recognition through authors such as Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Nabokov, and Solzhenitsyn. Includes themes from women’s writing, literary theory, socialist realism, and émigré literature, supported by further-reading lists, an up-to-date bibliography, and scholarly breadth by leading international contributors.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages282

Reading Time7 h 14 min

AccessFree to download

Notes on contributors

Preface

Introduction: Russian literature – the first thousand years

Old Russian literature and its heritage

Russian literature in the eighteenth century

Folklore and Russian literature

Religious writing in post-Petrine Russia

Pre-revolutionary Russian theatre

Pushkin: from Byron to Shakespeare

The Golden Age of Russian poetry

The classic Russian novel

The superfluous man in Russian literature

Nineteenth-century Russian thought and literature

The Silver Age: Symbolism and Post-Symbolism

Women’s writing in Russia

Russian literary theory: from the Formalists to Lotman

Socialist realism in Soviet literature

Experiment and emigration: Russian literature, 1917–1953

Russian poetry since 1945

Post-revolutionary Russian theatre

Thaws, freezes and wakes: Russian literature, 1953–1991

Post-Soviet Russian literature

Bibliography

Index

THE ROUTLEDGE COMPANION TO RUSSIAN LITERATURE The Routledge Companion to Russian Literature is an engaging and accessible guide to Russian writing of the past thousand years. The volume covers the entire span of Russian literature, from the Middle Ages to the post-Soviet period, and explores all the forms that have made it so famous: poetry, drama and, of course, the Russian novel. A particular emphasis is given to the works of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when Russian literature achieved world-wide recognition through the works of writers such as Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Nabokov and Solzhenitsyn. Covering such diverse subjects as women’s writing, Russian literary theory, socialist realism and émigré writing, leading international scholars open up the wonderful diversity of Russian literature. With recommended lists of further reading and an excellent, up-to-date bibliography, The Routledge Companion to Russian Literature is the perfect guide for students and general readers alike. Neil Cornwell is Professor of Russian and Comparative Literature atthe University of Bristol. He has edited the Reference Guide to Russian Literature (1998) and is the author of two books on Vladimir Odoevsky, as well as The Literary Fantastic (1990), James Joyce and the Russians (1992) and Vladimir Nabokov (1999) . Routledge Companions Routledge Companions are the perfect reference guides, providing everything the student or general reader needs to know. Authoritative and accessible, they combine the in-depth expertise of leading specialists with straightforward, jargonfree writing. In each book you’ll ﬁnd what you’re looking for, clearly presented –whether through an extended article or anA–Z entry–in ways which the beginner can understand and even the expert will appreciate. Routledge Companion to Global Economics Edited by Robert Beynon Routledge Companion to Feminism and Postfeminism Edited by Sarah Gamble Routledge Companion to The New Cosmology Edited by Peter Coles Routledge Companion to Postmodernism Edited by Stuart Sim Routledge Companion to Semiotics and Linguistics Edited by Paul Cobley Routledge Companion to Russian Literature Edited by Neil Cornwell THE ROUTLEDGE COMPANION TO RUSSIAN LITERATURE Edited by Neil Cornwell London and New York First published 2001 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2001. Versions of chapters 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19 and 20 © 1998 Fitzroy Dearborn; all additional material in these chapters © 2001 the authors; chapters 1, 4, 5, 8, 11, 12 and 17 © 2001 the authors. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data The Routledge companion to Russian literature / edited by Neil Cornwell. [p. cm](p. cm). Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Russian literature–History and criticism. I. Title: Companion to Russian literature. II. Cornwell, Neil PG2951 .R68 2001 891.709–dc21 2001019769 ISBN 0–415–23365–8 (hbk) ISBN 0–415–23366–6 (pbk) ISBN 0-203-19387-3 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-19390-3 (Glassbook Format) CONTENTS Notes on contributors vii Preface ix 1 Introduction: Russian literature – the ﬁrst thousand years 1 Neil Cornwell 2 Old Russian literature and its heritage 12 Robin Milner-Gulland 3 Russian literature in the eigh

FAQs

What time period does The Routledge Companion to Russian Literature cover?

It covers the entire span of Russian literature from the Middle Ages to the post-Soviet period.

Which literary forms are emphasized in the companion?

It explores multiple forms that shaped Russian literature, including poetry, drama, and the Russian novel.

Who edited the volume and what is his academic role?

Neil Cornwell is the editor and is Professor of Russian and Comparative Literature at the University of Bristol.

Sep 26, 2026

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