Re-Entering the Sign: Perspectives on New Russian Culture

Re- Entering the Sign brings together an array of perspectives from contemporary Russian scholars and artists on the radical cultural changes that have accompanied the collapse of familiar social, political, and economic structures in the former Soviet Union. The essays and artistic manifestoes offer a variety of responses to the intense cultural questioning that resulted from a remarkable historical period as former Soviet society reentered both its own historical conversations as well as larger global discussions about culture.

The collection was conceived at an international conference on language and the arts, Language, Consciousness, and Society, whose organizers aimed to initiate dialogue within an international community of scholars and artists, to open a public arena for the confluence of new voices, including native voices long denied open access to the public sphere in their own country. The concerns raised in these essays continue to provoke debate in contemporary Russian culture.

Russian luminaries include Mikhail Epstein and Arcady Dragomoshchenko on topics such as Russian postmodernism, the state of contemporary artistic culture, comparisons of Soviet literature with new Russian literature, and underground cinema.

The book will appeal to students and scholars of comparative literature and film, to cultural critics interested in cross- and trans-cultural approaches, and to theorists of the contemporary avant-garde.