The Soviet Novel: History As Ritual
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Condition: Fair/Acceptable. Jacket: No dust jacket - paperback with some light yellowing and minor wear to covers and edges. Page Condition: Yellowed. Markings: Minimal markings and annotations in grey lead. Binding condition: Binding intact.
The Soviet Novel: History as Ritual is a landmark work of literary scholarship that argues Soviet socialist realist novels were not merely propaganda but constituted a deeply structured mythological form — a kind of secular ritual. Katerina Clark meticulously details how these novels followed a rigid master plot, in which a young, spontaneous hero is guided toward ideological maturity by a wise mentor figure, ultimately submitting individual will to the collective cause. Drawing on an extensive range of Russian-language texts from the 1930s through the 1960s, Clark illustrates how Soviet culture transformed political history into a near-religious ceremonial narrative, revealing the ideological machinery that shaped an entire national literary tradition. Written with rigorous academic authority yet remaining accessible, this study remains an essential reference for anyone seeking to understand Soviet culture, Marxist-Leninist ideology, and the intersection of politics and literary form.
Author: Katerina Clark
Format: Paperback
Published: 1981, University of Chicago Press (Chicago Originals)
Genre: Literary theory
Condition remarks:
Condition: Fair/Acceptable. Jacket: No dust jacket - paperback with some light yellowing and minor wear to covers and edges. Page Condition: Yellowed. Markings: Minimal markings and annotations in grey lead. Binding condition: Binding intact.
The Soviet Novel: History as Ritual is a landmark work of literary scholarship that argues Soviet socialist realist novels were not merely propaganda but constituted a deeply structured mythological form — a kind of secular ritual. Katerina Clark meticulously details how these novels followed a rigid master plot, in which a young, spontaneous hero is guided toward ideological maturity by a wise mentor figure, ultimately submitting individual will to the collective cause. Drawing on an extensive range of Russian-language texts from the 1930s through the 1960s, Clark illustrates how Soviet culture transformed political history into a near-religious ceremonial narrative, revealing the ideological machinery that shaped an entire national literary tradition. Written with rigorous academic authority yet remaining accessible, this study remains an essential reference for anyone seeking to understand Soviet culture, Marxist-Leninist ideology, and the intersection of politics and literary form.