The Cambridge Introduction to Russian Literature

Glossary

Pronunciations and definitions of Russian words, names, places, and texts

Page reference is made to the first appearance of the word. Monarchs appear in the list alphabetized according to their first names, and the dates listed indicate the time span of their reign. Most Russian words have a strong primary stress. This is marked by an acute accent over the stressed syllable.

Words

bashmak shoe; boot, p. 116.

Bednye lyudi Poor Folk, title of Dostoevsky’s 1846 epistolary novel, p. 237.

Bednyi vsadnik “The Poor Horseman,” title of a chapter from Andrei Bitov’s Pushkin House that parodies the title of Pushkin’s narrative poem, The Bronze Horseman [Mednyi vsadnik], p. 237.

blazhenny blessed one; alternate name for a holy fool, p. 39.

bogatyr a hero from Russian folk myth, similar to a warrior saint, p. 60.

bolshev´ık lit. “majority person,” as opposed to “menshevik” (“minority person”); the Leninist wing of the Marxist Socialist-Democratic Party, victorious in 1917, p. 31.

byl´ına Russian folk epic, the hero of which is usually a bogatyr, p. 60.

chort devil, imp, p. 35.

chronotope Bakhtin’s neologism for the time-space relationship in narrative,

p. 17. chudak oddball, misfit, p. 42.

dacha a cabin or small house, usually rural, used for retreats, p. 32. detekt´ıv detective novel, p. 243.

diamat Soviet compound word for “dialectical materialism,” p. 197. Dobroliubov “Mr. Lover-of-Good,” speaking name from Denis Fonvizin’s comedy The Brigadier (1769), p. 88. dogovor pact; contractual agreement, p. 77. Duma Russian representative governing body, p. 166. durak fool, p. 39. durochka little fool (female diminutive of durak), p. 42.

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