This book describes the genesis and structure of the project Bulgarian Dialectology as Living Tradition, a searchable and interactive database of field recordings of Bulgarian dialects covering all major dialect types, with innovative analyses including features never discussed before. The depth and breadth of the site, now available on the internet at bulgariandialectology.org, make it an invaluable resource to teachers and scholars.

The bulk of the book presents concrete evidence of the website’s value as a research tool, in the form of two detailed contributions to linguistic scholarship, each the individual work of one of the authors. Vladimir Zhobov discusses aspects of Bulgarian dialectal vocalism, and Ronelle Alexander examines accentual patterns in Bulgarian dialects. Each of these two research reports not only presents valuable new results, but also shows how the organization and presentation of material on the website made it possible to develop the innovative methods by which these results are achieved.

In Bounded Mind and Soul, twelve leading scholars grapple with questions about the complex relationship between Israel and Russia. What are their mutual interests? What are the areas of conflict? And how has the immigration of more than one million Jews from the former Soviet Union affected Israeli culture, society, and politics? These essays range from studies of literature and intellectual history to in-depth examinations of the treatment of Jewish dissidents in Soviet times and new immigrants in Israel. The collection provides unexpected answers to the questions: what is the extent of Russia in Israel and Israel in Russia?

This book is Volume 4 of the series New Approaches to Russian and East European Jewish Culture.

UCLA Slavic Studies no. 7 Russia’s first narrative history, The Book of Degrees of the Royal Genealogy (Kniga stepennaia tsarskogo rodosloviia), was produced in the Kremlin scriptorium of the Moscow metropolitans during the reign of Ivan IV (1533–84). A collaborative project to prepare a new critical edition in three volumes, based on the text of the earliest surviving copies with variants and commentary, spurred intensive research into the book’s manuscripts and its sources. In February of 2009, an international group of scholars with expertise in a range of disciplines convened at UCLA to consider the book’s representation of Kievan and Muscovite history, the politics of its creation, its literary status, and its ideological uses in its time as well as larger themes: What are the pre-conditions for a “culture of history”? How do historical narratives legitimize and influence their present? Selected articles presented at this forum, which build on and reference these discussions, have been arranged in thematic groups. Section 1 focuses on the Stepennaia kniga’s genesis, production, and institutional status. Section 2 looks at the book’s narrative and stylistic models. Section 3 traces and contextualizes the book’s construction of historical narratives in successive steps. Section 4 considers religious patronage and observance in the broader Muscovite context. The final section explores church efforts to exert moral influence on Russian rulers. Some of the articles in this volume present sharply differing views and interpretations, while in other cases we find more nuanced readings of the evidence than earlier scholarship had considered. Overall, these essays raise more questions than they answer, and we hope that this reconsideration of the Stepennaia kniga will stimulate continuing discussion and analysis of the role and importance of narrative history in Muscovite Rus’ and in subsequent Russian culture.

Book Reviews

Review by John Ellison in Slavic and East European Journal, 59.2 (Summer 2015)

From the editors: Czech studies in the United States would be inconceivable without Mike’s pioneering work, both his methodologically groundbreaking textbook and his numerous translations of Czech literature, including works by Karel Čapek, Bohumil Hrabal, Milan Kundera, Jan Neruda, and others. These translations often serve as an entry point to Czech culture, both for our students and for the general public. Many of the American Bohemists who teach Czech language, literature, and culture in the United States and beyond have been taught by and/or inspired by Mike. His presence in Czech Studies is undeniable, and this Festschrift is a small token of our appreciation for his work and achievements. The volume covers four major areas: teaching Czech language and culture, Czech language and heritage, Czech literature, and, with a broader geographical scope, translation studies. Edited by Craig Cravens, Masako U. Fidler, and Susan C. Kresin This book is recommended for library collections at four-year colleges and research universities.

A fascicle of the four-volume Anthology of South-Slavic Literatures.

From the Archives of Polish Emigration Series, a joint publication of Nicholas Copernicus University and the Department of Slavic Languages and the East Central Eruopean Center of Columbia University Slavica has obtained a very limited quantity of this collection of essays devoted to the prominent Polish emigre writer Jozsef Wittlin, commemorating the centennial of Jozsef Wittlin's birth and the twentieth anniversary of his death. His books, long banned in Poland, are only now finding their way to the Polish reader through posthumous republication in Poland. The anniversary created an opportunity to take a new look at Wittlin's literary output, and to examine it from a contemporary perspective. The American and European scholars represented in this volume have applied new methodological approaches to Wittlin's texts in their analysis of his significance for a new generation of readers. Contents I. Salt of the Earth: the Context of 20th-Century Anti-War Literature Zoya Yurieff, "The Image of World War I in The Salt of the Earth by Jozef Wittlin and in August 1914 by Alexander Solzhenitsyn" Krystyna Jakowska, "Simultaneity and Its Antiwar Function, or How to Write about the Second World" Leonid Heretz, "The Great War and the Disintegration of the Traditional Peasant Worldview in Jozef Wittlin's Salt of the Earth" Anna Frajlich, "Two Unknown Soldiers" Elizabeth Kosakowska, "The War as a Myth: The Analysis of a Development of the Religious Imagery in Joseph Wittlin's The Salt of the Earth" II. Jozef Wittlin&emdash;The Poet and Essayist David A. Goldfarb, "Expressionism and the Visual in Jozef Wittlin's 'Hymn of Hatred'" Wojciech Ligeza, "Poezja Jozefa Wittlina na obczyznie" Joanna Rostropowicz Clark, "Laughter and Death: Jozef Wittlin's Reflective Humor in Orpheus in the Inferno of the Twentieth Century" Jozef Olejniczak, "Wittlin wobec 'Innego'" III. Wittlin's Europe and Europe's Wittlin Zygmunt Kubiak, "Jozef Wittlin and the Tradition of Mediterranean Culture" Jadwiga Maurer, "The Demise of the Austro-Hungarian Empire: Jozef Wittlin's Sol ziemi and Joseph Roth's Radetzkymarsch" Andreas Lawaty, "Wittlin and German Literature: Friends in an Unfriendly World" Alice-Catherine Carls, "Jozef Wittlin's Passages Through France" Rizel Louise Sigele, "Jozef Wittlin: Semblance and Reminiscence" IV. Contexts, Interchanges and Trespassings-Polish Emigre Literature Jerzy Jarzebski, "Gombrowicz and Wittlin&emdash;Two Conspirators" Robert A. Maguire, "Manfred Kridl" Madeline G. Levine, "Wiktor Weintraub: Professing Polish Studies in America" Halina Filipowicz, "Beginning to Theorize 'Polish Emigre Literature'" Pawel Kadziela, "Jozef Wittlin: Bibliography for the Years 1945-1998."

This work is the first reference grammar of its kind and describes the contemporary Slovene language in a concise and easily comprehensible way. It is intended for speakers of English who are studying Slovene at the elementary through the intermediate levels, but it will also serve as a handy source of quick reference for others wishing to review basic questions of Slovene grammar and syntax. Potential users may include university students, researchers in a diverse number of fields, persons of Slovene descent as well as scholars of Slavic linguistics. Knowledge of another Slavic language is not a prerequisite, although some comparative data from Serbo-Croatian and Russian appear when deemed helpful. After a brief description of Slovene, its dialects and its place among the Slavic and Indo-European languages, the student is introduced to the alphabet, sounds and spelling rules. This is followed by separate chapters on each major grammatical category, accompanied by copious examples of contemporary usage: nouns, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, numerals, prepositions, with case governance explained for the two latter categories. By far the longest part of the work is devoted to verbs, and there are sub-sections which are devoted to topics such as their organization and classification, irregular conjugations (e.g. the verbs `to be,' `to have,' `to want') and verbs of motion. Throughout the reference grammar the author supplies information on stress patterns, especially useful for nouns and verbs. Unique in this book are the extensive notes on special problems such as the use of the dual, special uses of the genitive case, including examples of the "orphan" genitive, modal expressions (e.g. `may,' `prefer,' `should') and time expressions. A separate chapter treats word order, the placing of clitics, and the relation between theme and rheme in deciding word order. Particularly valuable is the chapter providing hints on enriching the learner's vocabulary through an understanding of prefixes, suffixes and the derivational process. An additional attractive feature of Derbyshire's book is the inclusion of word and subject indices which enable the reader to locate individual vocabulary items discussed throughout the text, as well as specific points of grammar and syntax. This work may easily be used with existing grammars of Slovene (a bibliography of textbooks and dictionaries is provided), most of which are monolingual in Slovene and do not present grammar in a systematic way. To that end Derbyshire's reference grammar provides a list of grammatical terminology in Slovene as well as easy to read charts presenting declensions and conjugations, each followed by lists of commonly encountered exceptions. Anyone interested in Slovene will want to own this indispensible volume. "Overall, however, this is an excellent book that fills a real need." (SEEJ) "...an indispensable help to students and teachers alike." (SR) "...the most comprehensive treatment in English of Slovene grammar that has appeared to date." (MLJ) "...a book in which the material of Slovene grammar is clearly set out, free of cant and obfuscation, and well indexed to boot." (Word) "...a clear and well organised, indexed and structured account of most of what the beginner and intermediate learner needs." (ASEES) "... most welcome ... it has a clear layout ... Explanations and comments are lucid ..." (SEER)

This improved one-volume edition of a very successful textbook contains just about the same vocabulary and introduces grammatical features in about the same order as the first edition. In other respects the book has been severely revised and reformatted. It has been shortened, so that it is truly a first-year textbook, one that can successfully be completed within two semesters, but still contains a discussion of all major grammatical categories of Russian. The original large lessons have been broken up into units that correspond to a day's work; there are 110 lessons, plus 14 grammar reviews. The reading selections (the Zyuzya story) of the first edition have been eliminated. There is much more information and exercise material on pronunciation and intonation. As in the first edition, many of the exercises are in the form of short conversations; this provides a kind of bridge between strict grammar drill and totally free conversation. Beginning Russian is intended to be used with the dictionary 5000 Russian Words and additional readings (in the second semester) such as Chto ia videl (both published by Slavica).

The Teacher's Manual contains many useful word lists, sample tests, and information on how to use the book. Additional materials for this title are available through the Cornell Language Resource Center at: http://www.lrc.cornell.edu/sales/links/russian

(Comments on the 1st edition:) "...to be recommended highly..." (MLJ) "... a very well-thought-out and presented course..." (ISS)

(Comments on the 2nd edition:) "To sum up, BR2 is clearly a first-rate textbook. ... Because of the sensible advice and useful information found in it, the Teacher's Manual should be read by every teacher of elementary Russian, whether s/he is using BR2 or not, and it would be a particularly helpful guide for any teacher just starting out." (RLJ)

This book, the first modern, full course of Slovak for English speakers, is intended for the first year of language study at the college level. It is also suitable for self study when used in combination with accompanying tapes. For additional materials related to this title, visit the author's website at: https://lektorek.org Each lesson, designed to be covered in approximately two weeks of study, consists of dialogues, grammatical commentary, vocabulary, exercises, sentences for translation, and a reading. Lessons are focused on specific practical-use areas: greetings, family and home life, work, study, shopping, meals, and so on. Although conversations and readings are set in contemporary Slovakia, situations are chosen for their generality, their ability to apply to life in both Slovakia and the United States. Grammar is presented matter-of-factly and explicitly, on a level adequate for understanding and making creative use of the conversations and readings. The order of presentation follows the order in which the grammatical topics arise naturally out of the textual material. The material is reinforced by ample and varied pattern-drill exercises, translations, and situational scripts for acting out. The language in this book is modeled on the colloquial speech of younger educated speakers residing in present-day Slovakia. The student who masters the material in this book will be able to read, understand, and communicate with people in Slovakia, as well as participate successfully in summer-study programs at Slovak universities. The book is richly illustrated with photographs, a map, ink drawings, and folk songs with music, as well as numerous jokes, humorous drawings, and other clippings from newspapers and magazines. In the vocabulary grammatical information is given for the words, as well as the number of the lesson where the word is first used. A seven-page index concludes the book.

"The appearance of a new textbook by Oscar Swan is an occasion for joyful anticipation. One expects genuine, lively colloquial examples of the language under study, understated droll wit in the personality of the central dialogue persona (a literary mutation, one believes, of Oscar himself); an up-to-date presentation of social realia as well as grammatical explanations; rigorous, thorough exercises, including morphological drills, topic-oriented dialogues, target-language translations. And all of that is what we find in this delightful and capacious volume, which takes its place as by far the best introductory Slovak text for English speakers, ever." (SEEJ)

This elementary textbook is an introduction to the Hittite language and writing system for self instruction and for beginning students, especially students who cannot work easily with the existing German grammars but who want a more up-to-date source than Sturtevant's 1933 Comparative Grammar of the Hittite Language. Beginning Hittite contains a grammar, reader, glossary, and cuneiform sign list. The grammar is descriptive, not historical, although features of Old Hittite which differ significantly from the younger language are noted. Copious examples are provided, especially in the syntax section. The selections for reading include portions of the Apology of Hattusilis, the Treaty with Alaksandus, the Hittite Laws, and the Letter of King Tut's Widow to Suppiluliumas. Each is presented in cuneiform with interlinear transliteration and verbatim translation. Free translations are also given. All words occurring in both the reader and the grammar section are included in the glossary, where definitions, grammatical identification, and location in the book are provided. "...In short, the text-book is a well-written, easy to understand text-book that covers all essential aspects of the language of interest to the student and professional non-specialist alike.... Beginning Hittite is therefore not only an ideal text-book for the first-year student of Hittite and Indo-European, but also an essential reference book for the general linguist and in particular for those working in the fields of comparative linguistics and language typology." (GL)