| The Myth of the Non-Russian: Iskander and Aitmatov's Magical Universe Contributor(s): Haber, Erika (Author) |
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ISBN: 0739105310 ISBN-13: 9780739105313 Publisher: Lexington Books OUR PRICE: $106.92 Product Type: Hardcover Published: April 2003 Annotation: The Myth of the Non-Russian explores the magical realist prose of two non-Slavic authors writing in Russian in the Soviet Union in the 1970s-1980s. Erika Haber argues that these authors juxtaposed their native myth with Soviet myth, thus undermining the Soviet prescription of national conformity in art by suggesting a plurality of worlds and truths. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | Russian & Former Soviet Union |
| Dewey: 891 |
| LCCN: 2002043333 |
| Physical Information: 0.78" H x 6.16" W x 9.3" (0.92 lbs) 182 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Russia |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Erika Haber's analysis of the interplay between literature and culture in the Soviet Union of the 1970s and 1980s breaks new ground not only in our understanding of this relationship, but also in our appreciation of the literary genre popularized at that time by the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez-magical realism. The Soviets perceived García Márquez as a Socialist, and they sanctioned his magical realism-when other writing styles were outlawed-as a natural extension of socialist realism. Haber discusses the use of magical realism in Soviet literature, focusing especially on two non-Slavic writers: Fasil Iskander, of Abkhazia, and Chingiz Aitmatov, of Kyrgyzstan. She explores how these writers used literary tools of subversion and successfully employed magical realism in rebellion against the prescription of national conformity in art. In critical readings of Iskander and Aitmatov, Haber demonstrates how these writers juxtaposed their native myth with Soviet myth, thus undermining the primary message of socialist realism by suggesting a plurality of worlds and truths. |