The Word Made Self: Russian Writings on Language, 1860–1930

Thomas J. Seifrid

Published by Cornell University Press 2005

The Word Made Self

Russian Writings on Language, 1860–1930

Thomas J. Seifrid

https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501718281

Overview
Contents

About this book

When Osip Mandelstam wrote that the Russian word was "sentient and breathing flesh," he voiced one of the most powerful themes in his culture. In The Word Made Self, Thomas Seifrid explores this Russian fascination with the power of the word as...

Author / Editor information

Thomas Seifrid is Associate Professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Southern California. He is the author of Andrei Platonov: Uncertainties of Spirit.

Reviews

Galin Tihanov, Lancaster University:

The Word Made Self is the first comprehensive examination in English of the rich and multifarious body of discourses on language produced in Russia over a period of some seventy years, from the abolition of serfdom to the rise of Stalinism. Wide-ranging and sensitive to a variety of disciplines and writing practices from theology and philosophy to literary criticism, fiction, and psychology, Thomas Seifrid's book will become an important reference point in the field.

Eric Naiman, University of California, Berkeley:

The Word Made Self is a fascinating study of the intersection of philosophy, linguistics and theology in the age of Russian Modernism. Thomas Seifrid provides a compelling introduction to and analysis of the works of Sergei Bulgakov, Pavel Florenskii, Aleksei Losev, Aleksandr Potebnia, and Gustav Shpet. He shows how the idea of language as a carrier of subjectivity was central to all these thinkers. He is particularly sensitive to the way they wove together philosophical strands from German Romanticism, the Orthodox tradition, and phenomenology. The arguments here will be of major interest to historians of the Soviet period, particularly those working with notions of Soviet subjectivity and contemporary concepts of ideology. The Word Made Self is also an invaluable resource for all scholars whose work deals with the Symbolist and Formalist movements.

Caryl Emerson, Princeton University:

For the last two centuries, serious Russian thought about language has been nourished by sources alien to the current conventions of scholarly Anglophone discourse. In place of the snappy pragmatic essay or the empirical argument based on clinical evidence, we find Neoplatonism, the theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church, and German Romantic philosophy. Thomas Seifrid's patient, lucid treatment of this difficult and vital material will matter to anyone interested in literature, philosophy of language, speculative theology, sociology, and political rhetoric in Russia.

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction. Russia's Preoccupation with Language in the Modern Era Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 1. Potebnia and the Revival of Russian Thought about Language Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	7
Chapter 2. Russia's Culture ofLogos in the Early Twentieth Century Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	53
Chapter 3. Orthodox Essentialism and Its Dialogue with Modern Thought Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	82
Chapter 4. Through the Prism of Phenomenology Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	130
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	202
Selected Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 252
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 29
- Images: 29
Keywords: Literary Studies; Language Arts & Linguistics; Soviet & East European History

eBook

Published: July 5, 2018
ISBN: 9781501718281