The Decembrist Myth in Russian Culture [Hardcover]

Ludmilla A. Trigos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 22, 2009

This book is the first interdisciplinary treatment of the mythic image of the Decembrists, a group of Russian noble officers who attempted, but failed, to overthrow the tsarist government in 1825. By exploring Russian literature, history, film and opera this book shows how the Decembrist myth evolved over time depending on political agendas. Though originally it functioned as a myth of opposition to authority and espoused self-sacrifice, it later became a legitimating myth for the Soviet regime. Ludmilla Trigos reveals how the Decembrist myth inspired generations of Russian revolutionaries and writers and still retains its hold on the Russian cultural imagination.

Editorial Reviews

Review

In this solidly researched and lucildy written book, Trigos makes a valiant effort to map this myth, from its beginnings to the present. Summing up: Recommended."--Choice

 

“Trigos’ exciting book traces the ever-changing, sometimes surprising, shapes of the Decembrist myth in nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first-century Russian culture. At points in history upon which Trigos focuses in this truly interdisciplinary study, she explores the complex intersections of the historical, political, and high and low cultural responses to the Decembrists. A fascinating book!”—Ellen Chances, Professor of Russian Literature, Princeton University

 

“On December 14, 1825, a small group of disaffected officers and noblemen attempted to overthrow the Russian autocracy.  Their revolt failed miserably, and its lack of clear planning and purpose, combined with the fact that the new Tsar, Nicholas I, tried both to suppress the story and to use it for his own political ends helped make it into a rich source of myth and legend.  The Decembrist Myth in Russian Culture explores this process as it unfolded over almost two centuries, moving deftly among works of historians, memoirists, revolutionaries, authors of fiction and  poets, as well as composers and filmmakers.  Trigos’ account offers a unique and engrossing survey of modern Russian culture from Pushkin to Putin, from the classics to the Bolsheviks, from dissidents to postmodernists.  Her account dramatically brings home the fact that in Russia to this day history is still very much up for grabs.”—Marcus C. Levitt, Associate Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Southern California

 

“The Decembrist uprising was uneventful and led to no perceptible change.  The same cannot be said about the myths it bred. This lucid, informative and captivating account of Decembrist mythology from Pushkin to Putin takes you to its ideological, political, ritualistic-celebratory, literary, film, operatic and media representations, vividly demonstrating that the past is "usable" in infinitely many ways, until—perhaps—it wears out.”—Irene Masing-Delic, Professor of Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures, Ohio State University

About the Author

Ludmilla A. Trigos received her Ph.D. in Russian Literature from Columbia University and has taught at Columbia University, Barnard College, Drew University and New York University. She has published on nineteenth-and twentieth-century Russian literature, cultural mythologies, and violence and is the co-editor of Under the Sky of My Africa: Alexander Pushkin and Blackness.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (December 22, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0230619169
• ISBN-13: 978-0230619166
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,231,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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