Russians Abroad

“Greta Slobin’s passing cut short a scholarly career devoted, among other subjects, to the study of interwar Russian émigré culture, about which Slobin intended to write a book-length monograph but did not have time to complete it. The present volume, a labor of love by family and friends, strings together previously published and newly revised essays, some translated from the Russian, as well as material dictated by the ailing author, in a narrative that approximates Slobin’s original plan. . . .The present collection of essays documents her life-long intellectual engagement with the problematics of Russian émigré culture. . . . For those who knew Greta Slobin, this volume will be a modest token of appreciation for a passionate scholar whose premature death left an ambitious project incomplete.” -- Leonid Livak * The Russian Review, vol. 73, no. 2 (April 2014) *
“Framed by several critical models, including neocolonial, the book is rich in observations on the nexus between the national canon, exile and modernism....Greta Slobin’s book will play an important part in emigre studies, where a decisive shift has occurred during the last decade from describing the long neglected material and ‘filling the gaps’ to conceptualizing and contextualizing the complex network of literary discourses, solidarities and loyalties.” -- Maria Rubins, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College, London * Slavonic and East European Review (vol. 92, no. 3, July 2014) *
“The chief value of this collection of essays is that it clearly traces some of the important dynamics of the post-1917 literary emigration. It shows how émigré literature relates to Russian literature of other periods and to broader questions of identity; as well as countering the usual stereotypes, it demonstrates that émigré letters need not—should not—be studied as a thing apart. . . . [T]his is a collection of essays which opens up many lines of enquiry as it is—and provides many original answers. Prefaced with an eloquent tribute by Galin Tihanov, it stands as a fine tribute to Greta Slobin and the breadth of her scholarship.” -- Adam Fergus, University of Sheffield, Modern Language Review, Volume 111, Part 2 (April 2016)