The History of World Literatures on Film Russian Literature

The first comprehensive history of Russian literature on film, analyzing the changing cinematic art and politics of adaptation between 1895 and the present. Unlike most previous studies of literature and film, which tend to privilege particular authors, texts, or literary periods, David Gillespie and Marina Korneeva consider the multiple functions of filmed Russian literature as a cinematic subject in its own right—one reflecting the specific political and aesthetic priorities of different national and historical cinemas. In this first and only comprehensive study of cinema’s various engagements of Russian literature focusing on the large period 1895-2015, The History of Russian Literature on Film highlights the ways these adaptations emerged from and continue to shape the social, artistic, and commercial aspects of film history.