Pristed B.B. The New Russian Book: A Graphic Cultural History

New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. — 343 p. — (New Directions in Book History) — ISBN10: 3319507079; ISBN13: 978-3319507071This book takes up the obtrusive problem of visual representation of fiction in contemporary Russian book design. By analyzing a broad variety of book covers, the study offers an absolutely unique material that illustrates a radically changing notion of literature in the transformation of Soviet print culture to a post-Soviet book market. It delivers a profound and critical exploration of Russian visual imaginary of classic, popular, and contemporary prose. Among all the carelessly bungled covers of mass-published post-Soviet series the study identifies gems from experimental designers. By taking a comparative approach to the clash of two formerly separate book cultures, the Western and the Soviet, that results both in a mixture of highbrow and lowbrow forms and in ideological re-interpretations of the literary works, this book contributes to opening an East-West dialogue between the fields of Russian studies, contemporary book and media history, art, design, and visual studies.Introduction: Research DesignRussian Book Design from the Soviet Period to the PresentThe Soviet Hardback Revolution
Perestroika and Post-Soviet Redesign
Russian Book Design TodayChanging Values in Visual Representation of LiteratureThe Classic Returns: Anton Chekhov's "Dama s sobachkoi"
The Western World in a Russian Pocket?
The Kaleidoscopic Images of Viktor Pelevin's Generation "P"Three Generations of Russian Book DesignersBook Artist or Designer?
Arkadii Troianker: Nonconformist Book Experiments in Changing Media
Andrei Bondarenko: From the Bright Underground to Dark Clouds
Outlook on the Next Generation: Aleksandr Utkin's New Printed ClassicsErratum to: The Soviet Hardback Revolution