Encyclopedia of Contemporary Russian Culture

Book excerpt: This addition to the highly successful Contemporary Cultures series covers the period from period 1953, with the death of Stalin, to the present day. Both ‘Russian’ and ‘Culture’ are defined broadly. ‘Russian’ refers to the Soviet Union until 1991 and the Russian Federation after 1991. Given the diversity of the Federation in its ethnic composition and regional characteristics, questions of national, regional, and ethnic identity are given special attention. There is also coverage of Russian-speaking immigrant communities. ‘Culture’ embraces all aspects of culture and lifestyle, high and popular, artistic and material: art, fashion, literature, music, cooking, transport, politics and economics, film, crime – all, and much else, are covered, in order to give a full picture of the Russian way of life and experience throughout the extraordinary changes undergone since the middle of the twentieth century. The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Russian Culture is an unbeatable resource on recent and contemporary Russian culture and history for students, teachers and researchers across the disciplines. Apart from academic libraries, the book will also be a valuable acquisition for public libraries. Entries include cross-references and the larger ones carry short bibliographies. There is a full index.