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Faces of Contemporary Russia is a one-semester textbook for high-intermediate to advanced level Russian students that aims to develop students' linguistic proficiency by examining significant personalities in current Russian culture. In addition to introductory and concluding chapters, the book features twelve individuals (one per chapter), drawing from a range of areas such as arts, sports, journalism, and business. While upper-level Russian textbooks tend to emphasize grammar and reading more traditional works of Russian literature, this book instead seeks to primarily engage students in learning about and discussing the breadth of contemporary Russian culture while weaving the study of grammar and vocabulary into those discussions. In addition to readings and in-class communicative activities, the book also features guided research assignments that encourage students to make use of the many personality interviews and YouTube clips available online.
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Table of Contents
Faces of Contemporary Russia
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Faces of Contemporary Russian
Russia of the 21st century. A panorama of cultural life.
Through the prism of sociology: Which periods of Russian history are of interest to Russians
1. Oleg Kuvaev, Masyanya and flash-animation
Oleg Kuvaev: Bibliography
Historical Context: Saint Petersburg, Petrograd, Leningrad
Getting ready for reading and conversation: Who is Masyanya?
Though the eyes of a scholar of culture: Who is Masyanya?
Historical Context: Worker and Kolkhoz Woman
Grammar
Daily, weekly, yearly
, + instrumental case
Genitive case, review
2. Darya Dontsova, bestsellers and historical detective novels
Darya Dontsova: Bibliography
Through the prism of sociology: Do today's Russians read much?
Getting ready for reading and conversation: What is ironic detective fiction?
Through the eyes of a scholar of culture: What is ironic detective fiction?
Grammar
Numerals + genitive case
Perfective/imperfective verbs, review
with prefixes
Simple superlative, review
3. Diana Vishneva and the world of the Russian ballet
Diana Vishneva: Bibliography
Getting ready for reading and conversation: The world of Russian ballet
Through the eyes of a scholar of culture: The world of Russian ballet
Through the prism of sociology: Is it true that all Russians are fans of ballet?
Grammar
Motion verbs, review
, ...
Dates, review
4. Konstantin Raikin and the world of Russian theater
Konstantin Raikin: Bibliography
Getting ready for reading and conversation: The world of Russian theater
Through the eyes of a scholar of culture: The world of Russian theater
Grammar
Motion verbs, review
Dative case, review
Numerals, review
with prefixes
5. Valentin Yudashkin and the Russian fashion industry
Valentin Yudashkin: Bibliography
Getting ready for reading and conversation: Contexts of Russian fashion
Through the eyes of a scholar of culture: Contexts of Russian fashion
Through the prism of sociology: Are school uniforms necessary?
Grammar
Participles, review
Motion verbs, review
6. Ksenia Sobchak and the world of Russian glamour
Ksenia Sobchak: Bibliography
Getting ready for reading and conversation: Russian glamour – what is it?
Through the prism of sociology: Do Russians think of themselves as happy people?
Through the eyes of a scholar of culture: Russian glamour – what is it?
Grammar
Verbs with the prefix -
Review of cases
Participles, review
Passive voice, review
Reflexive verbs, review
7. Vladimir Posner and the world of Russian television
Vladimir Posner: Bibliography
Historical context: USSR–US Space Bridges
Getting ready for reading and conversation: The world of Russian television
Through the eyes of a scholar of culture: The world of Russian television
Through the prism of sociology: Talk shows on Russian television
Grammar
Review of cases
The word
Motion verbs, review
?
8. Zemfira and the world of Russian rock music
Zemfira: Bibliography
Listening to Zemfira's songs
Getting ready for reading and conversation: The world of Russian rock music
Through the eyes of a scholar of culture: The world of Russian rock music
Grammar
- + verb
Review of cases
, ,
,
Reflexive verbs
Perfective/imperfective verbs, review
9. Renata Litvinova and the world of Russian cinema
Renata Litvinova: Bibliography
Getting ready for reading and conversation: The world of Russian cinema
Through the eyes of a scholar of culture: The world of Russian cinema
How well do you know Russian cinema?
Grammar
Review of cases
with prefixes
Verbal adverbs, review
+ perfective/imperfective verbs, review
Verbal adverbs vs. participles
10. Evgeni Plushenko and Russian figure skating
Evgeni Plushenko: Bibliography
Getting ready for reading and conversation: Contexts of Russian sports
Through the eyes of a scholar of culture: Contexts of Russian sports
Grammar
Perfective/imperfective verbs, review
Verbal adverbs, review
- (? , ) (? , )
with prefixes
Verbal adverbs vs. participles
11. Igor Matvienko and the world of Russian pop music
Igor Matvienko: Bibliography
Getting ready for reading and conversation: Contexts of Russian pop music
Through the eyes of a scholar of culture: Contexts of Russian pop music
Through the prism of sociology: Do Russians like pop music?
Grammar
, ...
Verbal adverbs, review
Participles, review
12. Irina Khakamada the women of Russian politics
Irina Khakamada: Bibliography
Getting ready for reading and conversation: Women of Russian politics
Through the eyes of a scholar of culture: Women of Russian politics
Through the prism of sociology: Women in politics?
Grammar
Negative adverbs
Participles, review
In Lieu of a Conclusion: Russian millennials
Pussy Riot
Russian vloggers
Culture Studies Test
Reviews
"What a gift Olga Mesropova has given to upper-level students of Russian and their instructors! Faces of Contemporary Russia offers learners the chance to acquire deep cultural literacy in the realm of post-Soviet Russian media, politics, athletics, and the performing arts, while also developing the lexicon and syntactical strategies that will propel them to advanced level proficiency in reading, speaking and writing in Russian. Structured around engaging biographies of major cultural figures from 21st century Russian life and culture, each unit offers annotated readings, accompanied by expertly designed exercises that take students from the finer points of Russian grammar to thoughtful discussion of major sociocultural issues facing Russians today. The exercises ask students to explore in depth a range of topics that are particular to Russian life and culture, while also making connections to their own cultural, political, and social contexts. The material is fun, dynamic and flexible enough to be easily adapted to meet the needs of a wide range of instructional styles and learner needs."—Molly T. Blasing, University of Kentucky
Awards
Shortlisted for the Best Book in Pedagogy by Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages
About the Author
Olga Mesropova is an Associate Professor of Russian at Iowa State University. She is the author of the advanced-level cinema-based Russian language conversation textbook, Kinotalk, has co-edited two scholarly anthologies with Slavica Publishers and Johns Hopkins University Press, and has published numerous articles and reviews on Russian cultural discourse.
