Preserving Petersburg

"e;Goscilo and Norris' innovative anthology provides Slavic scholars with a panoramic view of the city's literary, pictorial and social manifestations."e; -Europe-Asia StudiesFor more than three centuries, St. Petersburg, founded in 1703 by Peter the Great as Russia's westward-oriented capital and as a visually stunning showcase of Russia's imperial ambitions, has been the country's most mythologized city. Like a museum piece, it has functioned as a site for preservation, a literal and imaginative place where Russians can commune with idealized pasts. Preserving Petersburg represents a significant departure from traditional representations. By moving beyond the "e;Petersburg text"e; created by canonized writers and artists, the contributors to this engrossing volume trace the ways in which St. Petersburg has become a "e;museum piece,"e; embodying history, nostalgia, and recourse to memories of the past. The essays in this attractively illustrated volume trace a process of preservation that stretches back nearly three centuries, as manifest in the works of noted historians, poets, novelists, artists, architects, filmmakers, and dramatists."e;The collection truly sparkles as the contributors each in turn take up this snuff box of a city . . . and breathe movement and life into the idealized Petersburg museum."e; -Gregory Stroud, Bennington College"e;This collection brings together history, literature, architecture, and the politics of memory."e; -Choice"e;An interesting and important contribution to existing scholarship on St. Petersburg's myth, cult, and text . . . this volume is distinctive."e; -Catharine Theimer Nepomnyashchy, Columbia University"e;A truly innovative contribution to the scholarship on Petersburg . . . The volume should be read by all serious Slavic scholars."e; -Emily Johnson, University of Oklahoma