Babel in Russian and Other Literatures and Topographies

The Tower, the State, and the Chaos of Language

Martin Meisel (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

168 Seiten

2019
Lexington Books (Verlag)
978-1-4985-8837-9 (ISBN)

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This study analyzes the biblical Tower of Babel story, a cautionary tale that accounts for the diversity of languages and peoples, in Russian literature and other topographies. The author pursues its linking of language, architecture, and society as well as its relevance in art and literature over centuries. To come to terms with a perceived disorder in the realm of language, alternative explanations and projects for remediation abound. The disorder and diversity themselves find expression in art, literature, and philosophical reflection and caused the emergence of a historical linguistics. The ambition of the builders—with its social and organizational premise—reemerges in both political and material form as cities, states, and monumental constructions. Utopian aspirations and linguistic claims permeate both revolutionary notions of universality and the romantic essentialism of the nation state. These in turn provoke dystopian critique in literature and film. As Martin Meisel reveals in this study, the wrestle with language in its recalcitrant instability and imperfect social function enters into dialogue with the celebration of its diversity, elasticity, and creativity.

Martin Meisel is Brander Matthews Professor Emeritus of dramatic literature at Columbia University.

Preface: A Second Fall

Part I. Words and Things

Chapter 1: Nimrod's Tower.

Chapter 2: Monody and Polyphony

Chapter 3: The Horizon of Etcetera.

Part II: Building the Future

Chapter 4: The Monument and the Labyrinth

Chapter 5: The Electric City

Chapter 6: Public and Private

Chapter 7: After Babel

Erscheinungsdatum	10.05.2021
Reihe/Serie	Crosscurrents: Russia's Literature in Context
Zusatzinfo	24 b/w photos;
Sprache	englisch
Maße	161 x 227 mm
Gewicht	445 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Anglistik / Amerikanistik
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturwissenschaft
ISBN-10	1-4985-8837-9 / 1498588379
ISBN-13	978-1-4985-8837-9 / 9781498588379
Zustand	Neuware