Slave Soul of Russia

Rancour-Laferriere (Russian, Univ. of California, Davis) was inspired by the late Soviet writer V.S. Grossman's belief in Russia's slave soul to investigate the propensity of his countrymen to wallow in self-defeating servility. "Nearly one thousand footnotes later" in his words, he feels that Grossman was correct. In several spheres of Russian culture, Rancour-Laferrieere documents "the widespread occurrence of moral masochism" among Russians. Some familiar agents pass his analysis: infant swaddling, the (holy) fool, the communal bathhouse, Russian collectivism, and strong, long-suffering women. By the book's end, he has come to see in Russian masochism one of the attractions and beauties of Russian culture. This work is sure to raise eyebrows, if not hackles. For Russian studies collections.-Robert Johnston, McMaster Univ., Hamilton, Ontario Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information.