Russia has a rich, huge, unwieldy cultural tradition. How to grasp it? This classroom reader is designed to respond to that problem. The literary works selected for inclusion in this anthology introduce the core cultural and historic themes of Russia's civilisation. Each text has resonance throughout the arts - in Rublev's icons, Meyerhold's theatre, Mousorgsky's operas, Prokofiev's symphonies, Fokine's choreography and Kandinsky's paintings. This material is supported by introductions, helpful annotations and bibliographies of resources in all media. The reader is intended for use in courses in Russian literature, culture and civilisation, as well as comparative literature. This anthology of tales and stories, poems, songs, and excerpts from novels and plays offers an introduction to Russian literature from the Igor Tale to twentieth-century works. It weaves these texts into the rich tapestry of Russian culture. the individual readings - most in fresh translations - were chosen for their cultural resonances. Each group of readings is introduced in an illustrated essay evoking the times in which the authors lived, the themes that engaged them, and the representations of those same themes in other media - in Rublev's icons, Mousorgsky's operas, Meyerhold's theater, Prokofiev's symphonies, Fokine's choreography, or Kandinsky's paintings. $c Provided by Publisher.

Russian collection.

$t The epic Tale of Igor -- $t The folk tale of The Firebird -- $t The Lives of * Boris and Gleb * Alexis, the Holy Man of God * Avvakum * -- $t Pushkin's Boris Godunov and The Bronze Horseman.