Includes bibliographical references and index.

Testament -- 'I have raised myself a monument' : writer memorials and cults -- 'Tidings of me will go out over all great Rus' : Pushkin and the Russian literary canon -- 'I shall be famous as long as another poet lives' : writers' responses to Pushkin -- 'Awakening noble feelings with my lyre' : writers as 'masters of minds' -- 'And don't dispute with fools' " men, women, and society -- 'Every tribe and every tongue will name me' : Russian literature and 'primitive culture' -- 'O muse, be obedient to the command of God' : the spiritual and material worlds.

This text explores the place and importance of literature of all sorts in Russian culture and aims to answer the questions: How and when did a Russian national literature come into being? and What shaped its creation?

Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002.