Study of Expressionism in the Late 20th — Early 21st Centuries

Abstract

The article analyzes and systematizes results of Russian research in German and Russian Expressionism for the past 17 years. The focus of the author are both great collective research projects on history and theory of Russian and German literature, which includes Expressionism as an integral part of the literary process, and individual studies of literary critics and linguists. The geography of Russian study of Expressionism covers research centers in Universities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Nizhni Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Samara and in Austrian libraries (Yekaterinburg, Nizhni Novgorod). The research has four main directions. The first, the most traditional, focuses its forces on the study of new literary material and personalities, unknown literary texts and historical and literary facts. The second direction works with well-known texts, but operates with the latest scientific tools and provides a different understanding of the known material. The third direction is interdisciplinary and uses synthetic methods. The fourth is the comparative and typological direction, an important part of which is translation theory and practice.