Whither Russian Literature

Abstract

With the Soviet Union well into its sixth year since Gorbachev's accession to power, the fact of the myriad changes taking place there, not to mention elsewhere in the world, no longer amazes. At stake, rather, is chronicling and making sense of what is happening, if only in the partial manner possible as events rush by. To this end, the present issue of Soviet Studies in Literature brings a selection of recent articles about various aspects of the current shifts discernible in Soviet literature, language, and publishing. Inevitably, such a selection can be only a miniscule and perpetually tardy representation of the many fascinating pieces coming out in the contemporary Soviet press that address not particular literary works and their authors but the very changes of which they are a part.