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This is the essential new guide to Russian literature, combining authority and innovation in coverage ranging from medieval manuscripts to the internet and social media. With contributions from thirty-four world-leading scholars, it offers a fresh approach to literary history, not as one integral narrative but as multiple parallel histories. Each of its four strands tells a story of Russian literature according to a defined criterion: Movements, Mechanisms, Forms and Heroes. At the same time, six clusters of shorter themed essays suggest additional perspectives and criteria for further study and research. In dialogue, these histories invite a multiplicity of readings, both within and across the narrative strands. In an age of shifting perspectives on Russia, and on national literatures more widely, this open but easily navigable volume enables readers to engage with both traditional literary concerns and radical re-conceptualisations of Russian history and culture.

• Presents a groundbreaking model for writing literary history, following four parallel strands that each represent Russian literature according to a defined criterion: Movements, Mechanisms, Forms and Heroes
• Displays a polyphony of diverse perspectives and challenges monolithic notions of literary history while maintaining a coherent, easily navigable structure
• Written in an accessible fashion without assuming prior knowledge of the material covered, while also maintaining depth and scholarly rigour