Russian Modernism in the Memories of the Survivors

'I am working for the twenty-first century, ' Viktor Duvakin told Roman Jakobson in August 1967. Duvakin's century has indeed arrived: in the last few years, his interviews with Bakhtin and Shklovsky have appeared in English, and now Gratchev, Marinova, and Evdokimova are offering us his conversations with Jakobson and Viktor Ardov, amongst others, on Yesenin, Russian emigre literature, Mayakovsky, Tsvetaeva, and Isaac Babel. A most gratifying reading experience awaits those who want to get a sense of the turbulent times and remarkable personalities recollected in this book.

- Galin Tihanov, George Steiner Professor of Comparative Literature, Queen Mary University of London

Between 1967 and 1974, Viktor Duvakin recorded hundreds of interviews with key figures of Russian modernism, unfolding details that have been forgotten and relations that have been erased. Passionate, biased, and purposefully idiosyncratic, these conversations bring back the energy and audacity that shaped the Russian avant-garde. Accompanied by exhaustive commentaries and archival photographs, this indispensable volume is a perfect companion for anyone interested in Russian culture.

- Serguei Alex. Oushakine, Professor of Anthropology and Slavic Languages and Literatures, Princeton University

This book affords us an intimate and personal view of one of the most momentous, combative, incendiary, and far-reaching events in the history of literature and art. Making these interviews with first-hand witnesses to and active participants in the 'moment' of Russian modernism accessible to the non-Russian reader is a truly remarkable literary and cultural achievement. A rare, informative, indispensable, entertaining, and highly readable book.

- Michael Eskin, Co-founder and Vice President, Upper West Side Philosophers, Inc.

This exciting collection of interviews, available for the first time in an excellent English translation, will be an invaluable source of information to scholars and students alike, as well as anyone with an interest in Russian twentieth-century culture. While these interviews reflect the spirit of the 1920s-30s, they also demonstrate that oral history played a crucial role in the preservation of modernist values in Soviet times.

- Alexandra Smith, Reader in Russian Studies, University of Edinburgh