Ludmiła Mnich. Shakespeare in Russian theory in the first half of the 20th century

Abstract

The book written by the Polish scholar treats Russian theory as it has been informed in the process of understanding Shakespeare and in its turn served as a basis for Russian theory. The term ‘Russian theory’ is advanced as analogous to ‘French theory’ represented by M. Foucault and French deconstruction in general. ‘Theory’ in this broader sense is used to denote scientific mind represented in various discursive practices, namely historiosophy, religion, philosophy, and partly politics. An attempt to understand Russian intellectual life through analogy with certain Western events can be productive as it brings the national into the world context, but at the same time it is fraught with a danger to wipe off those features that do not fit into the analogy.
Thus, Russian historical poetics, the Russian variant of theory, is practically left out, or falls into separate sections and loosely related individual practices. The book is important as a case study of modern theoretical appropriation at work in the domain of literature.