The Reception of East Slavic Literatures in the West and the East

Book excerpt: This volume, edited by scholars from diverse backgrounds, stems from the original convergence of various geo-cultural viewpoints on the reception of East Slavic cultures and literatures (Russian, Ukrainian, Belarussian, Soviet): European viewpoints are juxtaposed with those of the Japanese, Chinese, Israeli areas. The volume offers a broad look at the history of the perception of these literatures in Europe, Italy, and East Asia (with special attention to their reception in Japan and China). Contacts, influences, meditations, and difficulties in the perception of literary and cultural phenomena are the subject of original comparative analyses. The vitality with which Slavic-Eastern literatures have found echoes in very distant environments, but also the evolution of the self-perception of Ukrainian literature over time, are among the topics.