Frank J. Miller

After the First Congress of Soviet Writers in 1934, folklore, like literature, became an instrument of the political propagandist. Folklorists devoted considerable efforts to attending to what purported to be a rebirth of the Russian epic tradition, producing works of pseudofolklore that as often as not featured Joseph Stalin in the hero's role. Miller's account of this curious episode in the history of popular culture and totalitarian politics, and his synopses and translations of "classic" examples of folklore for Stalin, seek to serve as a resource not only for the study of contemporary folklore but also for the political scientist.

Russian Folklore and Pseudo-folklore of the Stalin Era

Folklore for Stalin

Olga E. Kagan

Kudyma S. Anna

Russian: From Intermediate to Advanced is a vibrant and modern course designed to help students achieve advanced proficiency in Russian. Offering a flexible modular approach structured around contemporary themes, the course further develops reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills while also expanding the student’s cultural literacy. Key features include: Structured chapters presenting a wide assortment of readings that include blogs, forums and surveys as well as opinion pieces and commentaries. Each text is accompanied by assignments with increasing levels of difficulty. Authentic and up-to-date readings, video and audio excerpts covering a range of relevant social and cultural topics, including Demography, Youth Culture, Politics and Society, Economics and Globalization. Video clips from news programs that are used not only to develop listening comprehension but also introduce students to contemporary Russian society. Particular attention to helping students acquire advanced vocabulary and the ability to converse, discuss and argue about issues with extended paragraph-length discourse. Special focus on the development of strong listening and reading comprehension skills, ensuring that students understand the ideas and supporting details in narrative and descriptive texts and connected discourse. A free companion website at http://www.russian.ucla.edu/AdvancedRussian/ offering student and instructor video and audio resources, sample syllabi and tests as well as additional materials. Written by a highly experienced author team that has co-authored the first year Russian textbook Beginner’s Russian (2010) and the second-year textbook V Puti (2005). Russian: From Intermediate to Advanced will be an essential resource for undergraduate students in their third and fourth year of Russian language study. It is also suitable for heritage learners of Russian who have mastered literacy and are familiar with the grammatical structure of Russian.

From Intermediate to Advanced

Russian

Olga Kagan

Ganna Kudyma

This highly successful program assists in the development of all the language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) by presenting realistic settings, situations, and contexts. Perfect for use in an intermediate or advanced Russian course, V Puti offers conversational exercises, various readings (biographies, poems, literature and historical texts) and grammatical explanations and practice.

В Пути

The book tells about an aging prima donna who makes a triumphant return to the opera. She relates about her encounters with other singers and directors. The title of the book comes from Verdi’s La Forza del Destino. This opera was one of the leading character’s favorites.

Frank J. Miller

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