EDNOTE. NABOKV-L thanks Carolyn Kunin for
this item which follows very nicely on the heels of Meredith Brosnan's photo of
the "ghost" message from Tolstoy in "The Vane Sisters." Although there is
nothing about VN in the book (as far as I recall), it is a fascinating
collection of pieces about the occult in Russia. Nabokov had a life-long
interest in the subject that flickers in and out ofhis writings. Good
background.
Cornell U Press has published the book
described below. It has been remaindered to Hamilton Books.com (and can be
acquired from them for $9.99). At Amazon.com you can peruse the contents and
index (no, VN is not there, but many others are):
The Occult in Russian and Soviet Culture
Edited by Bernice Glatzer Rosenthal
Book Description
A pioneering,
richly interdisciplinary volume, this is the first work in any language on a
subject that has long attracted interest in the West and is now of consuming
interest in Russia itself. The cultural ferment unleashed by the collapse of the
Soviet Union reawakened interest in the study of Russian religion and
spirituality. This book provides a comprehensive account of the influence of
occult beliefs and doctrines on intellectual and cultural life in
twentieth-century Russia. Bernice Glatzer Rosenthal's introduction delineates
the characteristics of occult cosmology which distinguish it from mysticism and
theology, and situates Russian occultism in historical and pan-European
contexts. Contributors explore the varieties of occult thinking characteristic
of prerevolutionary Russia, including Kabbala, theosophy, anthroposophy, and the
fascination with Satanism. Other contributors document occultism in the cultural
life of the early Soviet period, examine the surprising traces of the occult in
the culture of the high Stalin era, and describe the occult revival in
contemporary Russia. The volume includes bibliographical essays on Russian
occult materials available outside Russia. Contributors MIKHAIL AGURSKY, Hebrew
University
VALENTINA BROUGHER, Georgetown University
MARIA
CARLSON, University of Kansas
ROBERT DAVIS, New York Public
Library
MIKHAIL EPSTEIN, Emory University
KRISTI GROBERG, North
Dakota State University
IRINA GUTKIN, University of California, Los
Angeles