"Zholkovsky’s work—vast in scope and eclectic in methodology—has long been humanizing semiotics in both the Russian and American academy, giving it a face, a sense of humor, a stake in the real worlds we live by, but never losing its...
more"Zholkovsky’s work—vast in scope and eclectic
in methodology—has long been humanizing
semiotics in both the Russian and American
academy, giving it a face, a sense of humor,
a stake in the real worlds we live by, but
never losing its structuralist bedrock. The
essays collected here, which range from
Pushkin to Fyodor Karamazov, Okudzhava
and Sedakova, from Peter the Great’s
scandals abroad to Russian literary
theory and filmmaking at home, are
a goldmine by leading Slavists in
North America, Europe, and Russia.
A huge book of brilliant nuggets,
it lights up the contours of
our field today while paying
perfect vignette-like tribute
to Alik’s long non-conformist
career, as fascinating and
inscrutably flexible as it
was often perilous.” (By Caryl Emerson).
***
“This book is a wonderful gift not only for the 'jubilee
celebrant' (for AZ it is impossible to imagine this
phrase without quotes), but for all of us. The
variety of topics, genres and authors might seem
surprising were it not for the fact that this variety
reflects the character of the book’s addressee.
Its content, better than any manifesto or
theoretical treatise, brings us good news:
that a lack of intellectual inhibition,
an unrestricted field of vision, and an
enthusiasm that does not cloy are all so
becoming to scholarship that, in essence,
has as its sole palpable subject the
infinity of creative choices.
I have always liked Mayakovsky’s
neologism: 'Do not jubilee!'
(He himself, though, was very
much concerned with his own
anniversaries.) A / Z is completely
devoid of the sedate smoothness
of octogenaric jubilees, but
it has a lot of panache and
a spirit of intellectual
adventure, and most
importantly, fun. In this,
the book bears a striking
resemblance to its
addressee.” (By Boris Gasparov).
