Mapping St. Petersburg : imperial text and cityshape / Julie A. Buckler.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Buckler, Julie A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Saint Petersburg (Russia)--Intellectual life.

Saint Petersburg (Russia).

Saint Petersburg (Russia)--In literature.

Physical Description:

364 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Other Title:

Mapping Saint Petersburg

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, [2005]

Summary:

Pushkin's palaces or Dostoevsky's slums? Many a modern-day visitor to St. Petersburg has one or, more likely, both of these images in mind when setting foot in this stage set-like setting for some of the world's most treasured literary masterpieces. What they overlook is the vast uncharted territory in between. In Mapping St. Petersburg, Julie Buckler traces the evolution of Russia's onetime capital from a "conceptual hierarchy" to a living cultural system-a topography expressed not only by the city's physical structures but also by the literary texts that have helped create it.

By favoring noncanonical works and underdescribed spaces," Buckler seeks to revise the literary monumentalization of St. Petersburg-with Pushkin and Dostoevsky representing two traditional albeit opposing perspectives-to offer an off-center view of a richer, less familiar urban landscape. She views this grand city, the product of Peter the Great's ambitious vision, not only as a geographical entity but also as a network of genres that carries historical and cultural meaning.

We discover the busy, messy "middle ground" of this hybrid city through an intricate web of descriptions in literary works; nonfiction writings such as sketches, feuilletons, memoirs, letters, essays, criticism; and urban legends, lore, songs, and social practices-all of which add character and depth to this refurbished imperial city.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Petersburg Eclecticism, Part I: City as Text 27

Chapter 2 Petersburg Eclecticism, Part II: Literary Form and Cityshape 61

Chapter 3 Armchair Traveling: Russian Literary Guides to St. Petersburg 89

Chapter 4 Stories in Common: Urban Legends in St. Petersburg 116

Chapter 5 Literary Centers and Margins: Palaces, Dachas, Slums, and Industrial Outskirts 158

Chapter 6 Meeting in the Middle: Provincial Visitors to St. Petersburg 195

Chapter 7 The City's Memory: Public Graveyards and Textual Repositories 218

Conclusion: Timely Remembering and the Tricentennial Celebration 247.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [253]-353) and index.

ISBN:

0691113491

OCLC:

54424890

Online:

Publisher description