This volume examines areas of cultural production that have offered Russian women new freedoms and have opened commercial and artistic possibilities to them since the 19th century. Key aspects of Russian culture that have been systematically ignored are foregrounded here: Russian women s development of "popular" culture and their ingenious reinventions of "high" literature. The essays analyze women s creativity of every type their products, performances, and collaborative exchanges in sites that range from the bath-house to the ballroom.

Contributors are Nadezhda Azhgikhina, Lina...

Americans Experience Russia analyzes how American scholars, journalists, and artists envisioned, experienced, and interpreted Russia/the Soviet Union over the last century. While many histories of diplomatic, economic, and intellectual connections between the United States and the Soviet Union can be found, none has yet examined how Americans' encounters with Russian/Soviet society shaped their representations of a Russian/Soviet 'other' and its relationship with an American 'west.'

The essays in this volume critically engage with postcolonial theories which posit...

In 1876, Poland's leading actress, Helena Modrzejewska, accompanied by family and friends, emigrated to southern California to establish a utopian commune that soon failed. Within a year Modrzejewska made her debut in the title role of Adrienne Lecouvreur at San Francisco's California Theatre. She changed her name to Modjeska and quickly became a leading star on the American stage, where she reigned for the next 30 years. During this time, she established herself as America's most esteemed Shakespearean actress, playing opposite such celebrated actors as Edwin Booth and Maurice Barrymore....