Synopses & Reviews
At a time when Poland is emphasizing its distance from Russia, Polish Encounters, Russian Identity points to the historical ties and mutual influences of these two great Slavic peoples. Whether Poland adopted a hostile or a friendly stance toward Russia, the intense responses of Russian thinkers, writers, and political leaders to Poland and to Polish culture shaped Russians' idea of themselves and their place in the world. Countering the recent trend to deny the rich interactions between Russia and Poland, this collection reminds readers that these longstanding, if often difficult, contacts constitute an important and enduring element in the consciousness of the peoples of both countries.
The contributors are Manon de Courten, Megan Dixon, Halina Goldberg, Leonid Efremovich Gorizontov, Irina Grudzinska, Beth Holmgren, Judith Deutsch Kornblatt, Matthew Pauly, Nina Perlina, Robert Przygrodski, David L. Ransel, Boena Shallcross, Barbara Skinner, and Andrzej Walicki.
About the Author
David L. Ransel is Robert F. Byrnes Professor of History and Director of the Russian and East European Institute at Indiana University.
Boena Shallcross is Associate Professor of Polish Literature at the University of Chicago.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Russian Identity in Its Encounter with Poland David L. Ransel and Boena Shallcross
1. The Irreparable Church Schism: Russian Orthodox Identity and Its Historical Encounter with Catholicism Barbara Skinner
2. Imitation of Life: A Russian Guest in the Polish Regimental Family Beth Holmgren
3. Repositioning Pushkin and the Poems of the Polish Uprising Megan Dixon
4. Appropriating Poland: Glinka, Polish Dance, and Russian National Identity Halina Goldberg
5. The Slavophile Thinkers and the Polish Question in 1863 Andrzej Walicki
6. Dostoevsky and His Polish Fellow Prisoners from the House of the Dead Nina Perlina
7. Vladimir Solov'ëv's Views on the Polish Question: Poland and Reunion of the Eastern and Western Churches Manon de Courten
8. The Geopolitical Dimension of Russian-Polish Confrontation in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries Leonid Gorizontov
9. Tsar Vasilii Shuiskii, the Staszic Palace, and Nineteenth-Century Russian Politics in Warsaw Robert L. Przygrodzki
10. At Home with Pani Eliza: Isaac Babel and His Polish Encounters Judith Deutsch Kornblatt
11. Soviet Polonophobia and the Formulation of Nationalities Policy in the Ukrainian SSR, 1927-1934 Matthew D. Pauly
12. Under the Influence? Joseph Brodsky and Poland Irena Grudziska Gross