The Cambridge Introduction to Russian Literature

Page reference is made to the first appearance of the word. Monarchs appear in the list alphabetized according to their first names, and the dates listed indicate the time span of their reign. Most Russian words have a strong primary stress. This is marked by an acute accent over the stressed syllable.

Words

bashmak shoe; boot, p. 116.

Bednye lyudi Poor Folk, title of Dostoevsky’s 1846 epistolary novel, p. 237.

Bednyi vsadnik “The Poor Horseman,” title of a chapter from Andrei Bitov’s Pushkin House that parodies the title of Pushkin’s narrative poem, The Bronze Horseman [Mednyi vsadnik], p. 237.

blazhenny blessed one; alternate name for a holy fool, p. 39.

bogatyr a hero from Russian folk myth, similar to a warrior saint, p. 60.

bolshev´ık lit. “majority person,” as opposed to “menshevik” (“minority person”); the Leninist wing of the Marxist Socialist-Democratic Party, victorious in 1917, p. 31.

byl´ına Russian folk epic, the hero of which is usually a bogatyr, p. 60.

chort devil, imp, p. 35.

chronotope Bakhtin’s neologism for the time-space relationship in narrative,

p. 17. chudak oddball, misfit, p. 42.

dacha a cabin or small house, usually rural, used for retreats, p. 32. detekt´ıv detective novel, p. 243.

diamat Soviet compound word for “dialectical materialism,” p. 197. Dobroliubov “Mr. Lover-of-Good,” speaking name from Denis Fonvizin’s comedy The Brigadier (1769), p. 88. dogovor pact; contractual agreement, p. 77. Duma Russian representative governing body, p. 166. durak fool, p. 39. durochka little fool (female diminutive of durak), p. 42.

269

270 Glossary

dvoeverie dual-faith; the blend of pagan and Christian ethoi in Russian culture,

p. 29. dyavol devil (more imposing and terrifying than a chort), p. 35.

feuilleton lit. leaf, piece of paper (from Fr.); short, journalistic prose sketch, p. 156.

Gallomania a frenzy or mania for all things French, ridiculed in eighteenth-century comedies (especially Denis Fonvizin’s), p. 82.

Gallophilia the love of all things French (in contrast to Gallomania), p. 87.

glasnost' lit. “public voicedness”; first used in reference to lessened censorship during the Great Reforms (1861-64); entered English usage beginning in the mid-1980s, in reference to Gorbachev’s liberalization policies in the Soviet Union, p. 77.

grekh sin, p. 41.

groznyi terrible, awesome (in the sense of frightening to one’s enemies); refers to “Ivan the Terrible,” p. 52.

ideinost' idea-mindedness (lit. “idea-ness”); one of the tenets of socialist realism, that the “idea” of a work of art should embody the current high-priority party slogan, p. 200.

intelligentsia a mixed class based on education and ideological commitment rather than birth or government rank, p. 7.

Kalmyk Asiatic, Siberian ethnic group, p. 121.

Khanzhakina “Mrs. Hypocrite,” speaking name from Catherine the Great’s comedy O! The Times! (1769), p. 85.

kitezhanka a woman from the legendary city of Kitezh, p. 30.

klassovost' class-mindedness; a tenet of socialist realism, acknowledging the social-class origin of art and obliging it to further the struggle of the proletariat, p. 200.

kn´ızhnik scribe; bibliophile; bookseller (pl. kn´ızhniki), p. 23.

kolkhoz collective farm, p. 216.

Koshchnoe tsarstvo Kingdom of the dead, p. 68.

kost' bone, p. 68.

Kotlovan Foundation Pit. Title of Platonov’s 1930 novel, p. 212.

kulak lit. “fist”; well-to-do peasants who resisted collectivization after 1932, or anyone who profited under the quasi-capitalistic New Economic Plan, p. 51.

kul'turnost' culturedness, p. 193.

lesenka lit. “short flight of stairs”; refers here to a verse form invented by Vlad´ımir

Mayakovsky, p. 8. l'gat' to tell a lie, p. 49. lich´ına mask; outward appearance that conceals one’s true person, p. 30.

Glossary 271

l´ıchnoe (nominative neuter declension of the adjective l´ıchnyi) personal; unique

to an individual, p. 30. l´ıchnost' personality; implies the moral character of a person, p. 30. lik [pronounced “leek”] face, visage, countenance, p. 30. l´ıshnii chelovek superfluous man, p. 54. Litfond acronym for “Literary Fund,” the financial division of the Union of Soviet

writers, p. 198. litso generic Russian word for “face,” p. 30. loshad'-kaleka crippled mare, p. 155. lubok woodcut print, one of the earliest forms of printing the written word in

Russia; now often used in the sense of “pulp fiction,” p. 73. luzha mud puddle, p. 49. Lyod Ice, title of a novel by Vlad´ımir Sorokin, p. 240.

mag´ıcheskii kristall lit. “magic crystal”; crystal ball used for telling fortunes, a