Mikhail Epstein is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Cultural Theory and Russian Literature at Emory University (USA) and Honorary Professor of Durham University (UK). His research interests include new directions in the humanities, contemporary philosophy and religion, Russian literature, and postmodernism. He has authored 30 books, and his works have been translated into 23 languages.
“Not every world-class cultural critic can also produce the
breathtaking close reading—but such is Epstein’s gift. He sees
equally clearly from the outside looking in and the inside looking
out. This tour de force chronicle, covering three centuries of
literary masterpieces, starts with the Faustian demonic in Pushkin
and ends with Russian Being and Nothingness: Nabokov, Platonov,
forms of falling silent. Throughout, Epstein reveals the deep
affinities between German philosophy and Russian fictions. Russian
ontology has been perhaps the more ecstatic and insistent to
destroy what it worships. And the fate of Russian literature has
been to inspire the planet.”
*Caryl Emerson, Princeton University*
“It won’t be an exaggeration to say that Epstein takes Russian
literature more seriously (and passionately) than any other
contemporary critic does. Moreover, he takes it in its
totality—from Lomonosov to Prigov and beyond—as a living
metaphysical Gospel of Russian culture which consists of a number
of basic clusters or knots of ironic paradoxes and develops in
cycles and phases (he even offers a compelling Periodical Table of
Russian literature). In a series of vertiginous interpretations of
works of Russian writers, Epstein immerses us into the dangerous
waters of the ‘metaphysical unconscious’ of Russian literature but
always preserves a full command of his rational analysis—a risky
game in which he gains numerous victories (don’t miss his
illuminating discussion of ‘controlled madness’ in Pushkin,
Batiushkov, and Kabakov). This intellectually and methodologically
challenging and lucidly written (and translated) book represents a
fine example of the art of thinking about literature and should
become a major touchstone for readers of Russian literature within
and outside of the academia.”
*Ilya Vinitsky, Professor of Russian, Princeton University*
A. S. Brown’s impressive translation, together with the volume’s
strong internal coherence, amply justifies the appearance of a book
that shows a remarkable consistency of thought over several
decades. Like all his chosen interlocutors, Epstein is a writer
with his own path, his put’.
*The Times Literary Supplement*
Ask a Question About this Product More... |