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Russian Pulp: The Detektiv and the Russian Way of Crime
The detektiv , Russia's version of the murder mystery, has conquered what in Soviet days loved to call itself "the most reading nation on earth." Most Russians don't read much Tolstoy, but they devour the lurid covers and cheap paper of the detektiv s by the millions. Serials based on the works of two of the most popular authors (Andrei Kivinov and Aleksandra Marinina) have been hits of the last few TV seasons, their characters now a part of Russian everyday life.
The ubiquity of the detektiv may puzzle Westerners, who may conclude that this is a post-Soviet import like McDonalds. Not so―Russia sprouted its own versions of "penny dreadfuls" as soon as peasants came off the land and learned to read. The guardians of Russia's "high culture," however, were enraged by this pulpy popular genre and so contrived under the Soviets to supress it, making everyone read "improving" and "uplifting" literature instead. Russia's junk readers hung on, though, snatching up the few detektiv s that made their way through censorship, until, in the Gorbachev era, the genre blossomed as the perfect vehicle for social criticism―the detektiv talked about social problems in a way that was exciting enough that people wanted to read it. When the Soviet Union finally collapsed, one of the few things left standing in the rubble was the detektiv ―which now is sold on every street corner and read on every bus.
The first full-length study of the genre, Russian Pulp demonstrates that the detektiv is no knock-off. Summarizing and quoting extensively from scores of novels, this study shows that Russians understand law-breaking and crime, policemen, and criminals in ways wholly different from those of the West. After explaining why solving a crime is always a social function in Russia, Russian Pulp examines the staples of crime fiction―sex, theft, and murder―to demonstrate that Russians see police officer and criminal, thief and victim, as part of a single continuum. To the Russians,
The ubiquity of the detektiv may puzzle Westerners, who may conclude that this is a post-Soviet import like McDonalds. Not so―Russia sprouted its own versions of "penny dreadfuls" as soon as peasants came off the land and learned to read. The guardians of Russia's "high culture," however, were enraged by this pulpy popular genre and so contrived under the Soviets to supress it, making everyone read "improving" and "uplifting" literature instead. Russia's junk readers hung on, though, snatching up the few detektiv s that made their way through censorship, until, in the Gorbachev era, the genre blossomed as the perfect vehicle for social criticism―the detektiv talked about social problems in a way that was exciting enough that people wanted to read it. When the Soviet Union finally collapsed, one of the few things left standing in the rubble was the detektiv ―which now is sold on every street corner and read on every bus.
The first full-length study of the genre, Russian Pulp demonstrates that the detektiv is no knock-off. Summarizing and quoting extensively from scores of novels, this study shows that Russians understand law-breaking and crime, policemen, and criminals in ways wholly different from those of the West. After explaining why solving a crime is always a social function in Russia, Russian Pulp examines the staples of crime fiction―sex, theft, and murder―to demonstrate that Russians see police officer and criminal, thief and victim, as part of a single continuum. To the Russians,
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
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About the author
Anthony Olcott
23 books5 followersAka Toni Brill (joint pseudonym with wife Martha Brill Olcott)
Prior to becoming Officer in Residence at ISD, Anthony Olcott was Director of Analytic Assessment and Academic Outreach at the DNI's Open Source Center, in the office of Analytic Development.
He also has served as Senior Analyst in the Emerging Media Group, and as an Expert Analyst covering Russia and Central Asia. From 1984 until 2000, when he joined the government, Olcott taught at Colgate University, where he was an Associate Professor in the Russian Department. An author, editor, and translator, Olcott has published on a wide array of subjects. Two of his novels were nominated for prizes, and his study of Russian crime fiction, Russian Pulp, received a professional prize as Best Book of Literary or Cultural Studies in 2003. He has also received numerous awards and citations from the intelligence community. Olcott was educated, from BA through PhD, at Stanford University. His research explores the challenges which the media explosion presents to anyone - message receivers or message senders - who must transform data into information, and information into intelligence.
Prior to becoming Officer in Residence at ISD, Anthony Olcott was Director of Analytic Assessment and Academic Outreach at the DNI's Open Source Center, in the office of Analytic Development.
He also has served as Senior Analyst in the Emerging Media Group, and as an Expert Analyst covering Russia and Central Asia. From 1984 until 2000, when he joined the government, Olcott taught at Colgate University, where he was an Associate Professor in the Russian Department. An author, editor, and translator, Olcott has published on a wide array of subjects. Two of his novels were nominated for prizes, and his study of Russian crime fiction, Russian Pulp, received a professional prize as Best Book of Literary or Cultural Studies in 2003. He has also received numerous awards and citations from the intelligence community. Olcott was educated, from BA through PhD, at Stanford University. His research explores the challenges which the media explosion presents to anyone - message receivers or message senders - who must transform data into information, and information into intelligence.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 17, 2024
if you like this review i now have website: www.michaelkamakana.com
290515: now i have a whole sort of lit to look for... and maybe reevaluate those Martin Cruz Smith thrillers with arkady renko. in fiction, is it more important to be accurate or convincing? i still like 'red square' but how much is that i recognize the allusion to particular work of art?
290515: now i have a whole sort of lit to look for... and maybe reevaluate those Martin Cruz Smith thrillers with arkady renko. in fiction, is it more important to be accurate or convincing? i still like 'red square' but how much is that i recognize the allusion to particular work of art?
November 3, 2017
Worth reading
An engaging, very well-considered and well-written book on Russian pulp fiction, that goes from the novels themselves to larger considerations of rarely discussed differences between the Russia seen by the West and the Russia lived by Russians.
An engaging, very well-considered and well-written book on Russian pulp fiction, that goes from the novels themselves to larger considerations of rarely discussed differences between the Russia seen by the West and the Russia lived by Russians.
November 12, 2016
Interesting subject, but very dry. I gave up after 50 pages.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews