Ebooks for the Classroom+Faculty

Sad Comedy of Èl''dar Riazanov: An Introduction to Russia''s Most Popular Filmmaker
ISBN: 9780773571310
Platform/Publisher: JSTOR / McGill-Queen''s University Press
Digital rights: Users: unlimited; Printing: chapter; Download: chapter
Subjects: Riazanov Èl’dar -- Criticism and interpretation; Comedy films -- Russia (Federation) -- History and criticism;

David MacFadyen investigates what made Riazanov's films so wildly popular and what - if any - relationship that popularity had to Soviet policy. Using the works of Deleuze, Lacan, and Kristeva, MacFadyen looks at how Riazanov's films relate to society, audience demand, and Soviet politics. In more than twenty love stories that have precious little to do with statecraft, Soviet or otherwise, Riazanov captures the willful inclusiveness of socialist culture.

David MacFadyen is a professor of Slavic languages and literatures at UCLA. He has written extensively on Soviet popular culture and is the author of The Sad Comedy of Èl'dar Riazanov and several books on Joseph Brodsky.