Soviet literature in general and Soviet children’s literature in particular have often been labeled by Western and post-Soviet Russian scholars and critics as propaganda. Below the surface, however, Soviet children’s literature and culture allowed its creators greater experimental and creative freedom than did the socialist realist culture for adults. This volume explores the importance of children’s culture, from literature to comics to theater to film, in the formation of Soviet social identity and in connection with broader Russian culture, history, and society.

Interactive. Effective. And FUN! Start speaking Russian in minutes, and learn key vocabulary, phrases, and grammar in just minutes more with Learn Russian - Level 5: Upper Beginner - a completely new way to learn Russian with ease! Learn Russian - Level 5: Upper Beginner will arm you with Russian and cultural insight to utterly shock and amaze your Russian friends and family, teachers, and colleagues. What you get in Learn Russian - Level 5: Upper Beginner: - 190+ pages of Russian learning material - 25 Russian lessons: dialog transcripts with translation, vocabulary, sample sentences and a grammar section - 25 Audio Lesson Tracks - 25 Audio Review Tracks - 25 Audio Dialog Tracks This book is the most powerful way to learn Russian. Guaranteed. You get the two most powerful components of our language learning system: the audio lessons and lesson notes. Why are the audio lessons so effective? - powerful and to the point - syllable-by-syllable breakdown of each word and phrase so that you can say every word and phrase instantly - repeat after the professional teacher to practice proper pronunciation - cultural insight and insider-only tips from our teachers in each lesson - fun and relaxed approach to learning - effortlessly learn from bi-lingual and bi-cultural hosts as they guide you through the pitfalls and pleasures of Russia and Russian. Why are the lesson notes so effective? - improve listening comprehension and reading comprehension by reading the dialog transcript while listening to the conversation - grasp the exact meaning of phrases and expressions with natural translations - expand your word and phrase usage with the expansion section - master and learn to use Russian grammar with the grammar section Discover or rediscover how fun learning a language can be with the future of language learning, and start speaking Russian instantly!

An Ecology of the Russian Avant-Garde Picturebook takes a new approach to interpreting 1920s and 1930s picturebooks by prominent Russian writers, artists, and intellectuals by examining them within the ecological environment that, first, made them possible and, then, led to their demise. It argues that naturalistic models of the complex interactions of dynamic systems offer effective tools for understanding the fraught interrelations of art and censorship in the early Soviet period. Through illustrative case studies, it mounts a close analysis of word and image and their synergistic interplay in avant-garde picturebooks, while also recontextualizing them within the ecology of their original environment where extraordinary countervailing forces played out a drama of which these books survive as telling artifacts. Ultimately, it argues that the Russian avant-garde picturebook offers a uniquely illustrative example of literary ecology that sheds light on issues of creativity and censorship, politics and art, more broadly as well.

Russian is spoken by nearly 450 million people, and demand for Russian-speakers is growing. This introductory course includes an audio CD with practice dialogues-just the ticket for readers who need basic Russian for business, school, or travel. Serafima Gettys, PhD (Newark, CA), is Coordinator of the Foreign Language Program at Lewis University. Andrew Kaufman, PhD (Charlottesville, VA), is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

As the Second World War neared its conclusion, Germany was a nation reduced to rubble: 3.6 million German homes had been destroyed leaving 7.5 million people homeless; an apocalyptic landscape of flattened cities and desolate wastelands. In May 1945 Germany surrendered, and Britain, America, Soviet Russia and France set about rebuilding their zones of occupation. Most urgent for the Allies in this divided, defeated country were food, water and sanitation, but from the start they were anxious to provide for the minds as well as the physical needs of the German people. Reconstruction was to be cultural as well as practical: denazification and re-education would be key to future peace and the arts crucial in modelling alternative, less militaristic, ways of life. Germany was to be reborn; its citizens as well as its cities were to be reconstructed; the mindset of the Third Reich was to be obliterated. When, later that year, twenty-two senior Nazis were put in the dock at Nuremberg, writers and artists including Rebecca West, Evelyn Waugh, John Dos Passos and Laura Knight were there to tell the world about a trial intended to ensure that tyrannous dictators could never again enslave the people of Europe. And over the next four years, many of the foremost writers and filmmakers of their generation were dispatched by Britain and America to help rebuild the country their governments had spent years bombing. Among them, Ernest Hemingway, Martha Gellhorn, Marlene Dietrich, George Orwell, Lee Miller, W.H. Auden, Stephen Spender, Billy Wilder and Humphrey Jennings. The Bitter Taste of Victory traces the experiences of these figures and through their individual stories offers an entirely fresh view of post-war Europe. Never before told, this is a brilliant, important and utterly mesmerising history of cultural transformation.

Have you always wanted to learn how to speak Yiddish but simply didn't have the time? Well if so, then, look no further. You can hold in your hands “Conversational Yiddish Quick and Easy - Books I, II and III" which contains one of the most advanced and revolutionary methods, boxset series, that was ever designed for quickly becoming conversational in a language. In creating this time-saving program, master linguist Yatir Nitzany spent years examining the twenty-seven most common languages in the world and distilling from them the most common words that are most likely to be used in real conversations. These words were chosen in such a way that they were structurally interrelated and, when combined, form sentences. Through various other discoveries about how real conversations work--discoveries that are detailed further in this book--Nitzany created the necessary tools for linking these words together in a specific way so that you may become rapidly and almost effortlessly conversant--now. If you want to learn complicated grammar rules, or to speak perfectly proper and precise Yiddish, this book is not for you. However, if you need to actually hold a conversation while on a trip to the Yiddish speaking communities of Israel or the Yiddish diaspora, to impress that certain someone, or to be able to speak with your grandfather or grandmother as soon as possible, then the Nitzany Method is what you have been looking for. This method is designed for fluency in a foreign language, while communicating in the present tense. Nitzany believes that what's most important is actually being able to understand and be understood by another human being right away. This is one of the several, in a series of instructional language guides, the Nitzany Method's revolutionary approach is the only one in the world that uses its unique language technology to actually enable you to speak and understand native speakers in the shortest amount of time possible. No more depending on volumes of books of fundamental, beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, all with hundreds of pages in order to learn a language. With "Conversational Yiddish Quick and Easy – Series - Books I, II and III", are all you will need. Pick up your copy today and learn a new language quickly and easily.

Combining cultural analysis with historical and personal accounts of a century of musical life at the American Academy in Rome, this volume provides a history of the AAR's Rome Prize in Composition.

The perils of equating notions of freedom with artistic vitality Eloquently extolled by President John F. Kennedy, the idea that only artists in free societies can produce great art became a bedrock assumption of the Cold War. That this conviction defied centuries of historical evidence--to say nothing of achievements within the Soviet Union--failed to impact impregnable cultural Cold War doctrine. Joseph Horowitz writes: “That so many fine minds could have cheapened freedom by over-praising it, turning it into a reductionist propaganda mantra, is one measure of the intellectual cost of the Cold War.” He shows how the efforts of the CIA-funded Congress for Cultural Freedom were distorted by an anti-totalitarian “psychology of exile” traceable to its secretary general, the displaced Russian aristocrat/composer Nicolas Nabokov, and to Nabokov’s hero Igor Stravinsky. In counterpoint, Horowitz investigates personal, social, and political factors that actually shape the creative act. He here focuses on Stravinsky, who in Los Angeles experienced a “freedom not to matter,” and Dmitri Shostakovich, who was both victim and beneficiary of Soviet cultural policies. He also takes a fresh look at cultural exchange and explores paradoxical similarities and differences framing the popularization of classical music in the Soviet Union and the United States. In closing, he assesses the Kennedy administration’s arts advocacy initiatives and their pertinence to today’s fraught American national identity. Challenging long-entrenched myths, The Propaganda of Freedom newly explores the tangled relationship between the ideology of freedom and ideals of cultural achievement.

Lonely Planet French Phrasebook & Dictionary is your handy passport to culturally enriching travels with the most relevant and useful French phrases and vocabulary for all your travel needs. Ask about tucked-away vineyards, bargain with local farmers at the market or order wine like a professional; all with your trusted travel companion. With language tools in your back pocket, you can truly get to the heart of wherever you go, so begin your journey now! Get More From Your Trip with Easy-to-Find Phrases for Every Travel Situation! Feel at ease with essential tips on culture, manners, idioms and multiple meanings Order with confidence, explain food allergies, and try new foods with the menu decoder Save time and hassles with vital phrases at your fingertips Never get stuck for words with the 3500-word two-way, quick-reference dictionary Be prepared for both common and emergency travel situations with practical phrases and terminology Meet friends with conversation starter phrases Get your message across with easy-to-use pronunciation guides Inside Lonely Planet French Phrasebook & Dictionary: Full-colour throughout User-friendly layout organised by travel scenario categories Survival phrases inside front cover for at-a-glance on-the-fly cues Covers Basics - time, dates, numbers, amounts, pronunciation, reading tips, grammar rules Practical - travel with kids, disabled travellers, sightseeing, business, banking, post office, internet, phones, repairs, bargaining, accommodation, directions, border crossing, transport Social - meeting people, interests, feelings, opinions, going out, romance, culture, activities, weather Safe Travel - emergencies, police, doctor, chemist, dentist, symptoms, conditions Food - ordering, at the market, at the bar, dishes, ingredients The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet French Phrasebook & Dictionary , a pocket-sized comprehensive language guide, provides on-the-go language assistance; great for language students and travellers looking to interact with locals and immerse themselves in local culture. About Lonely Planet: Started in 1973, Lonely Planet is the world's leading travel guide publisher with guidebooks to every destination on the planet, and has been connecting travellers and locals for over 25 years with phrasebooks for 120 languages, more than any other publisher! With an award-winning website, a suite of mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community, Lonely Planet enables curious travellers to experience the world and to truly get to the heart of the places they find themselves.