The University of Wisconsin Press

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Cultural Studies / Literature & Criticism / Slavic Studies

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Lotman and Cultural Studies Encounters and Extensions Edited by Andreas Schönle The insights of a daring Soviet-era theorist applied to today's cultural politics One of the most widely read and translated theorists of the former Soviet Union, Yurii Lotman was a daring and imaginative thinker. A cofounder of the Tartu-Moscow school of semiotics, he analyzed a broad range of cultural phenomena, from the opposition between Russia and the West to the symbolic construction of space, from cinema to card playing, from the impact of theater on painting to the impact of landscape design on poetry. His insights have been particularly important in conceptualizing the creation of meaning and understanding the function of art and literature in society, and they have enriched the work of such diverse figures as Paul Ricoeur, Stephen Greenblatt, Umberto Eco, Wolfgang Iser, Julia Kristeva, and Frederic Jameson. In this volume edited by Andreas Schönle, contributors extend Lotman's theories to a number of fields. Focusing on his less frequently studied later period, Lotman and Cultural Studies engages with such ideas as the "semiosphere," the fluid, dynamic semiotic environment out of which meaning emerges; "auto-communication," the way in which people create narratives about themselves that in turn shape their self-identity; change, as both gradual evolution and an abrupt, unpredictable "explosion;" power; law and mercy; Russia and the West; center and periphery. As William Mills Todd observes in his afterword, the contributors to this volume test Lotman's legacy in a new context: "Their research agendas–Iranian and American politics, contemporary Russian and Czech politics, sexuality and the body–are distant from Lotman's own, but his concepts and awareness yield invariably illuminating results." "Adding Lotman's views to the modern intellectual landscape opens up alternative paths in the exploration of the fabric of culture. All the contributors to this volume rise successfully to this formidable challenge, and their collective contribution is truly outstanding in regard to both the richness of its content and the coherence and clarity of its general message." –Boris Gasparov, Columbia University Andreas Schönle is professor of Russian studies at Queen Mary, University of London. Media & bookseller inquiries regarding review copies, events, and interviews can be directed to the publicity department at publicity@uwpress.wisc.edu or (608) 263-0734. (If you want to examine a book for possible course use, please see our Course Books page. If you want to examine a book for possible rights licensing, please see Rights & Permissions.) Of Related Interest Doubly Chosen: Jewish Identity, the Soviet Intelligentsia, and the Russian Orthodox Church Judith Deutsch Kornblatt

November 2006 LC: 2006008876 PS 408 pp.    6 x 9 10 b/w photos, 15 b/w illus. Cloth $50.00 s ISBN 978-0-299-22040-2 ADD TO CART

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