Description: Examines the rise of the Russian empire as a literary theme simultaneous with the evolution of Russian poetry between the 1730s and 1840 - the century during which poets defined the main questions facing Russian literature and society. This work shows how imperial ideology became implicated in a range of issues.
Review Quotes: "An excellent knowledge of specifically Russian and general European contexts, incisive textual analyses, and a very fine aesthetic sensibility make Ram's book an outstanding achievement."--Boris Gasparov, Columbia University