Erika Haber's analysis of the interplay between literature and culture in the Soviet Union of the 1970s and 1980s breaks new ground not only in our understanding of this relationship, but also in our appreciation of the literary genre popularized at that time by the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez―magical realism. The Soviets perceived García Márquez as a Socialist, and they sanctioned his magical realism―when other writing styles were outlawed―as a natural extension of socialist realism. Haber discusses the use of magical realism in Soviet literature, focusing especially on two non-Slavic writers: Fasil Iskander, of Abkhazia, and Chingiz Aitmatov, of Kyrgyzstan. She explores how these writers used literary tools of subversion and successfully employed magical realism in rebellion against the prescription of national conformity in art. In critical readings of Iskander and Aitmatov, Haber demonstrates how these writers juxtaposed their native myth with Soviet myth, thus undermining the primary message of socialist realism by suggesting a plurality of worlds and truths.

The Myth of the Non-Russian: Iskander and Aitmatov's Magical Universe

Literature & Fiction

Haber, Erika

History & Criticism

Lexington Books

Book by Haber, Erica, Haber, Erika

Russian Phrasebook and Dictionary (Hippocrene Language Studies)

Reference

Hippocrene Books

Mastering Russian

Words, Language & Grammar

Today over 220 million people around the world speak Russian. Despite popular misconceptions, it is not a difficult language to learn. Russian is written in Cyrillic, an alphabet developed in the ninth century from ancient Greek. Visitors to Russia should become familiar with it in order to read signs and get around on their own more easily, as even the larger cities do not have signs and information posted in English. This volume comprises a section on pronunciation providing charts for the English transliteration, which allows users to speak Russian without actually knowing the Cyrillic alphabet. Essential Expressions lists useful, everyday phrases. Each successive chapter covers basic words, phrases, and concepts most often encountered by travellers to Russia in typical daily situations. The penultimate chapter helps make sense of the Russian number system and provides frequently used time expressions. The final chapter offers reference on subjects such as holidays, weather, metric conversions, and other practical information.

Russian-English / English-Russian Dictionary and Phrasebook: (Hippocrene Dictionary & Phrasebooks)

Dictionaries & Thesauruses

Russian Phrasebook and Dictionary

Foreign Language Study & Reference

Hippocrene Books, Incorporated

Recipient of the 2018 Outstanding Faculty Research Achievement Award in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics at Syracuse University In 1939, Aleksandr Volkov (1891-1977) published Wizard of the Emerald City, a revised version of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Only a line on the copyright page explained the book as a "reworking" of the American story. Readers credited Volkov as author rather than translator. Volkov, an unknown and inexperienced author before World War II, tried to break into the politically charged field of Soviet children's literature with an American fairy tale. During the height of Stalin's purges, Volkov adapted and published this fairy tale in the Soviet Union despite enormous, sometimes deadly, obstacles. Marketed as Volkov's original work, Wizard of the Emerald City spawned a series that was translated into more than a dozen languages and became a staple of Soviet popular culture, not unlike Baum's fourteen-volume Oz series in the United States. Volkov's books inspired a television series, plays, films, musicals, animated cartoons, and a museum. Today, children's authors and fans continue to add volumes to the Magic Land series. Several generations of Soviet Russian and Eastern European children grew up with Volkov's writings, yet know little about the author and even less about his American source, L. Frank Baum. Most Americans have never heard of Volkov and know nothing of his impact in the Soviet Union, and those who do know of him regard his efforts as plagiarism. Erika Haber demonstrates how the works of both Baum and Volkov evolved from being popular children's literature and became compelling and enduring cultural icons in both the US and USSR/Russia, despite being dismissed and ignored by critics, scholars, and librarians for many years.

Oz behind the Iron Curtain: Aleksandr Volkov and His Magic Land Series (Children's Literature Association Series)

Teen & Young Adult

UNIVERSITY PRESS OF MISSISSIPPI

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Books by Haber, Erika