The Russian theme in world literature: A co-authored monograph

The review offers a detailed analysis of a new co-authored monograph devoted to world literature with a broad focus on the global community’s perception of the Russian theme, including the Russians’ national identity, the nation’s political and social structure, and traditions and customs. Exploring Russia’s active interaction with the West and the East, the author stresses the ‘unity of the diverse.’ The book discusses world literature in the articles devoted to writers from Western, Central, and Eastern Europe, South Korea, China, and Brazil. As the study is confined to the Russian theme, the book encounters limitations: not each interaction between Russia and another nation generated a sense of reciprocity (in Veselovsky’s words, a ‘countercurrent’). Even though the monograph’s geographical scope extends from Brazil to South Korea, two topics stand out: interactions with Germany, and interactions with France. Thoroughly explored by Russian comparativists, they constitute a solid foundation for the presented study.