David Shepherd
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198156666
- eISBN:
- 9780191673221
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198156666.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter examines the metafictional works of Soviet author Leonid Leonov. The River Sot, Leonov's third novel, was one of the earliest Soviet works in the theme of industrialization and it was ...
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This chapter examines the metafictional works of Soviet author Leonid Leonov. The River Sot, Leonov's third novel, was one of the earliest Soviet works in the theme of industrialization and it was based on the author's first-hand experience of Soviet construction projects. This novel, together with Leonov's other work The Thief, provided the direction that Soviet literature should take. These novels were both influenced by the October Revolution.Less
This chapter examines the metafictional works of Soviet author Leonid Leonov. The River Sot, Leonov's third novel, was one of the earliest Soviet works in the theme of industrialization and it was based on the author's first-hand experience of Soviet construction projects. This novel, together with Leonov's other work The Thief, provided the direction that Soviet literature should take. These novels were both influenced by the October Revolution.
David Shepherd
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198156666
- eISBN:
- 9780191673221
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198156666.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, Criticism/Theory
Although metafiction has been the subject of much critical and theoretical writing, this is the first full-length study of its place in Soviet literature. Focusing on metafictional works by Leonid ...
More
Although metafiction has been the subject of much critical and theoretical writing, this is the first full-length study of its place in Soviet literature. Focusing on metafictional works by Leonid Leonov, Marietta Shaginyan, Konstantin Vaginov, and Veniamin Kaverin, it examines, within a broadly Bakhtinian theoretical framework, the relationship between their self-consciousness and their cultural and political context. The texts are shown to challenge notions about the nature and function of literature fundamental to both Soviet and Anglo-American criticism. In particular, although metafictional strategies may seem designed to confirm assumptions about the aesthetic autonomy of the literary text, their effect is to reveal the shortcomings of such assumptions. The texts discussed take us beyond conventional understandings of metafiction by highlighting the need for a theoretically informed account of the history and reception of Soviet literature in which the inescapability of politics and ideology is no longer acknowledged grudgingly, but is instead celebrated.Less
Although metafiction has been the subject of much critical and theoretical writing, this is the first full-length study of its place in Soviet literature. Focusing on metafictional works by Leonid Leonov, Marietta Shaginyan, Konstantin Vaginov, and Veniamin Kaverin, it examines, within a broadly Bakhtinian theoretical framework, the relationship between their self-consciousness and their cultural and political context. The texts are shown to challenge notions about the nature and function of literature fundamental to both Soviet and Anglo-American criticism. In particular, although metafictional strategies may seem designed to confirm assumptions about the aesthetic autonomy of the literary text, their effect is to reveal the shortcomings of such assumptions. The texts discussed take us beyond conventional understandings of metafiction by highlighting the need for a theoretically informed account of the history and reception of Soviet literature in which the inescapability of politics and ideology is no longer acknowledged grudgingly, but is instead celebrated.
David Shepherd
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198156666
- eISBN:
- 9780191673221
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198156666.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, Criticism/Theory
This introduction chapter explains the coverage of this book, which is about metafiction and self-consciousness in Soviet literature. Metafiction is a term used to refer to fictional writing which ...
More
This introduction chapter explains the coverage of this book, which is about metafiction and self-consciousness in Soviet literature. Metafiction is a term used to refer to fictional writing which self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artefact in order to pose questions about the relationship between fiction and reality. This book examines the metafictional works of several Soviet authors including Leonid Leonov, Marietta Shaginyan, Konstantin Vaginov, and Veniamin Kaverin.Less
This introduction chapter explains the coverage of this book, which is about metafiction and self-consciousness in Soviet literature. Metafiction is a term used to refer to fictional writing which self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artefact in order to pose questions about the relationship between fiction and reality. This book examines the metafictional works of several Soviet authors including Leonid Leonov, Marietta Shaginyan, Konstantin Vaginov, and Veniamin Kaverin.
