Conversations on Russian Culture: The Life and Traditions of the Russian Nobility (18th – Early 19th Centuries) – Lotman Yuri – Porthole – 2023 – ISBN 978-5-907488-02-1
Conversations on Russian Culture: The Life and Traditions of the Russian Nobility (18th – Early 19th Centuries)
Conversations on Russian Culture: The Life and Traditions of the Russian Nobility (18th – Early 19th Centuries)
49.99 €
Yuri Mikhailovich Lotman (1922-1993) was a world-renowned scholar, a distinguished literary scholar, cultural studies expert, and one of the founders of Russian semiotics. He was a professor at the University of Tartu. "Conversations on Russian Culture" is a unique book, a study dedicated to the most captivating period of Russian history—the 18th and early 19th centuries. It was then, according to Lotman, that the "family album of our contemporary culture," its "home archive," emerged. Balls, dandyism, card games, matchmaking, and duels still captivate us with their charm and aesthetics.
The reader will find numerous literary references and true stories that aren't taught in history or literature classes: What happened when a female graduate complained to Nicholas I about poor nutrition at the Smolny Institute? How did a French letter to the Tsar, written by a man, differ from a similar one written by a woman? What surprised the captain of a Japanese schooner about a Russian wedding ceremony? The book devotes special attention to the status of women: how Europeanization affected family life, how reforms changed the image of women—their clothing, their type, their portrayal in literature, and their education.
The publication is richly illustrated with photographs of household items and reproductions of works of art from the collections of the State Hermitage Museum and the Russian Museum, as well as facsimiles of drawings from the drafts of Alexander Pushkin.
The reader will find numerous literary references and true stories that aren't taught in history or literature classes: What happened when a female graduate complained to Nicholas I about poor nutrition at the Smolny Institute? How did a French letter to the Tsar, written by a man, differ from a similar one written by a woman? What surprised the captain of a Japanese schooner about a Russian wedding ceremony? The book devotes special attention to the status of women: how Europeanization affected family life, how reforms changed the image of women—their clothing, their type, their portrayal in literature, and their education.
The publication is richly illustrated with photographs of household items and reproductions of works of art from the collections of the State Hermitage Museum and the Russian Museum, as well as facsimiles of drawings from the drafts of Alexander Pushkin.
See also:
- All books by the publisher
- All books by the author