Contemporary Russian Satire A Genre Study

This wide-ranging study presents an examination of the extraordinary diversity and range of satirical writing in contemporary Russian literature. Through the close analysis of seminal satirical texts written by five Russian and emigré authors in the 1970s and 1980s, Karen Ryan-Hayes demonstrates that formal and thematic parody is pervasive and that it provides additional levels of meaning in contemporary Russian satire. The author focuses on different subgenres of satire and offers practical criticism on each text.

This wide-ranging 1996 study presents an examination of the extraordinary diversity and range of satirical writing in Russian literature and will be of interest not only to Slavicists but also to those interested in genre theory. Through the close analysis of seminal satirical texts written by five Russian and émigré authors in the 1970s and 1980s, Karen Ryan-Hayes demonstrates that formal and thematic parody is pervasive and that it provides additional levels of meaning in contemporary Russian satire. Each work under examination is placed within the wider European literary context as well as within the Russian tradition and is representative of a different sub-genre of satire. The author focuses on a variety of these genres and modes and offers practical criticism on each text. The writers under discussion have enjoyed a positive reception in the West and their works demonstrate the variety and vitality of Russian and Soviet satire.

Acknowledgements; Note on the translation; Introduction; 1. Iskander's transparent allegory: Rabbits and Boa Constrictors; 2. Beyond picaresque: Erofeev's Moscow-Petushki; 3. Satire and the autobiographical mode: Limonov's It's Me, Eddie; 4. The family chronicle revisited: Dovlatov's Ours; 5. Dystopia redux: Voinovich and Moscow 2042; Conclusions; Notes; Select bibliography; Index.

This is a 1996 study of the extraordinary diversity and range of satirical writing in Russian literature. Through the close analysis of seminal satirical texts written by five Russian and émigré authors in the 1970s and 1980s, Karen Ryan-Hayes demonstrates that formal and thematic parody is pervasive.