Now Available: Ivan Konevskoi: "Wise Child" of Russian Symbolism by Joan Delaney Grossman

[christa kling]

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Academic Studies Press is pleased to announce the publication of Ivan Konevskoi: "Wise Child" of Russian Symbolism by Joan Delaney Grossman. 

Ivan Konevskoi: 
"Wise Child" of Russian Symbolism
By Joan Delaney Grossman

ISBN 978-1-934843-89-5 (cloth) $45.00 / £37.50
200 pp., February 2010

Series: Studies in Slavic and Russian Literatures, Cultures and History

Topic Areas: Russian Literature, Literary Criticism, Poetry and Biography

Bibliographic Data: 1. Konevskoi, Ivan, 1877-1901. 2. Poets, Russian – 19th Century – Biography. 3. Symbolism (literary movement) – Russia. I. Title

Level: Academic and General Reader

Summary: Ivan Konevskoi: “Wise Child” of Russian Symbolism is  the first study in any language of Ivan Konevskoi – poet, thinker, mystic – for many decades the “lost genius” of Russian modernism. A fresh and compelling figure, Konevskoi plunged deeply into currents of modern mystical thought and art in the 1890s. A passionate searcher for immortality, he developed his own version of pantheism meant to guard his unique persona from dissolution in the All-One. The poetry of Tiutchev, Vladimir Solov’ev and Rossetti, William James’s psychology, paintings of Pre-Raphaelites and Arnold Boecklin, Old Russian historical myth, the Finnish Kalevala: all engaged him during his brief life. His worldview grew more audacious, his confidence in the magical power of the word grew more assured. Drowning in 1901 at 23, Konevskoi left a legacy unfinished, rich, and intriguing.

Author: Joan Delaney Grossman (Ph.D. Harvard University) is Professor Emerita of Slavic Languages and Literatures at University of California at Berkeley. Her publications include Edgar Allan Poe in Russia, 1973; Valery Bryusov and the Riddle of Russian Decadence, 1984; co-edited Creating Life, with Irina Paperno, 1994 and William James in Russian Culture, with Ruth Rischin, 2003.

Reviews:

“Ivan Konevskoi (1877-1901) strove throughout his tragically brief earthly life to "abolish death" by penetrating the mystic core of the universe. His earthly survival has now been notably enhanced by Joan Grossman's splendid book, a comprehensive account of the poet's life, thought, and accomplishments. Deeply sympathetic but always clear-eyed and sensible, Grossman's narrative is exhaustively researched but never pedantic, engagingly written and rich in illuminations derived from the author's lifelong study of Russian poetry, especially of the Symbolist era.”
-- Hugh McLean, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley

“Joan Grossman’s spiritual biography of “poet-mystic-thinker” Ivan Konevskoi (Oreus) fills a large gap in the scholarship on early Russian modernism. Although never entirely forgotten, Konevskoi was largely ignored by scholars in both Russia and in the West, before the appearance of this substantial monograph. With the superb knowledge of her subject-matter that years of painstaking and engaged research have given her, Grossman guides us through the poet’s short, but intense, quest for immortality through his own brand of pantheism. As Grossman shows, Konevskoi’s spiritual journey, which ended prematurely by accidental drowning, has many intriguing stops along the way.  Grossman makes this journey entertaining and informative. This is a major work by a distinguished scholar, which is bound to stimulate further research of this elusive poet.”
-- Irene Masing-Delic, Ohio State University

Table of Contents:

Key to frequently used abbreviations .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	7
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 		9
Chapter 1
The Drive for Life .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 21
Chapter 2
Chronicle of My Travels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 	53
Chapter 3
A Love Affair with the World’s Waters .     .  .  .  .  .	81
Chapter 4
Two Meetings .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . .  .  .  .  . 	101
Chapter 5
“Dreams and Meditations” .  .  .  .  .  . .  .  .  .  .  	127
Chapter 6
The Power of the Word .  .  .  .  .  .  . .  .  .  .  .  147
Chapter 7
“Abolishing Death” (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 	167
Chapter 8
Finland, Novgorod, St. Petersburg .  .  . .  .  .  .  .  	189
Chapter 9
Abolishing Death (2) .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	207
Afterword .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . .  .  .  .  .  221
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  244
Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Please remember that SEELANGS members are entitled to a 20% discount when they order directly from us by email: sales at academicstudiespress.com or online at www.academicstudiespress.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

All the best,

Christa Kling
Sales and Marketing
Academic Studies Press
christa.kling at academicstudiespress.com






      

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