Between Heaven and Hell The Myth of Siberia in Russian Culture

Siberia has no history of independent political existence, no claim to a separate ethnic identity, and no clear borders. Yet, it could be said that the elusive country 'behind the Urals' is the most real and the most durable part of the Russian landscape. For centuries, Siberia has been represented as Russia's alter ego,as the heavenly or infernal antithesis to the perceived complexity or shallowness of Russian life. It has been both the frightening heart of darkness and a fabulous land of plenty; the 'House of the Dead' and the realm of utter freedom; a frozen wasteland and a colourful frontier; a dumping ground for Russia's rejects and the last refuge of its lost innocence. The contributors to Between Heaven and Hell examine the origin, nature, and implications of these images from historical, literary, geographical, anthropological, and linguistic perspectives. They create a striking, fascinating picture of this enormous and mysterious land.

Introduction; Y.Slezkine & G.Diment - Savage Christians or Unorthodox Russians: The Missionary Dilemma in Siberia; Y.Slezkine, - Avvakum and the Genesis of Siberian Literature; B.T.Holl - Exiled from Siberia: The Construction of Siberian Experience by Early Nineteenth Century Irkutsk Writers: G.Diment - Paradoxical Perceptions of Siberia: Patrician and Plebeian Images up to the Mid-1880s; J.R.Gibson 'Vo Glubine Sibirskikh Rud': Siberia and the Myth of Exile; H.Murav - The Regionalist Conception of Siberia, 1860-1920; S.Watrous - Lenin and the Siberian Peasant Insurrections; N.G.O.Pereira - Varlam Shalamov's Kolyma; L.Toker - Vasilii Shukshin and His Siberia; J.Givens - Stereotyping Interethnic Communication: The Siberian Native in Soviet Literature; J.Nichols - The Divided Self: Yuri Rytkheu and Contemporary Chukchi Literature; A.Barker - Siberia Hot and Cold: Reconstructing the Image of Siberian Indigenous People; B.Grant - A Paradise Lost? Siberia and its Writers, 1960-1990; D.Gillespie - Index