The Russian Empire and modern Russian versification were established almost simultaneously during the 18th century, says Ram (Slavic languages and literature, U. of California-Berkeley), and he investigates the extent to which the evolution of modern Russian poetry was a response to and an effect of the imperial state. He tracks the rise of empire as a literary theme in tandem with the first systemization of literary Russian, especially poetry. Annotation 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Biography

Harsha Ram is associate professor of Slavic languages and literature at the University of California, Berkeley.