Table of Contents

• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• A Note on Translation and Transliteration
• Introduction
• 1 Contextualizing the Shanson Phenomenon
• 2 Criminals’ Music from Its Origins to the Early Soviet Period: A Glorified Archetype
• 3 Soviet Underworld Music: From the Bolshevik Revolution through the End of the Stalin Era
• (1917–1950s)
• 4 From Post-Stalinist Censorship to the Contemporary Mainstream: The Birth of the Shanson
• 5 The Shanson: Main Features and Tropes
• 6 The Shanson in Russia: From the Slums to the Kremlin
• 7 Turning Russia’s Immediate Reality into Song
• Epilogue: The Shanson—Soundtrack to Russian Reality
• Glossary
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index

About the Author

Anastasia Gordienko is an assistant professor of Russian and Slavic studies at the University of Arizona.

Reviews

"Vivid and engrossing. . . . The sophistication of [Gordienko's] methodology--which is as likely to refer to Adorno and Habermas as it is to historians and sociologists of Russia--is lightly worn and informed by some fifteen years of close-up anthropological observation working in the world of Russian and Ukrainian broadcasting."--Slavonic and East European Review

"[Gordienko] is among the first to conduct in-depth research on [shanson]. The result is this detailed, extensively documented study."--CHOICE

"A seminal work of simply outstanding scholarship. . . . Unique and highly recommended."--Midwest Book Review

"A rigorous examination. . . . [Gordienko] unearths many intriguing aspects of the shanson. Russophiles and musicologists will savor this impressive study."--Publishers Weekly

"A clear and entertaining overview of a vital, integral part of post-Soviet Russian culture--a joy to read."--Eliot Borenstein, New York University

"This fascinating book, both deeply researched and highly entertaining, provides valuable insights into Russian cultural history and should be required reading for all interested in the history of Russian popular song."--Karen Evans-Romaine, University of Wisconsin-Madison