Anna Karenina Illustrated: Russian and Soviet Illustrated Editions of the Novel, 1878-1982

This dissertation discusses illustrations of Anna Karenina created in Russia and the USSR in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It first considers Mikhail Vrubel’s illustration from 1878 and then examines four illustrated editions published in in 1914, 1933, 1953 and 1982. It accomplishes the following: it attends to the lack of attention illustration receives, generally in literary studies, but especially in Russian; it fills in a part of the history of publication practices in Russia and the USSR, as it pertained to illustration; it describes the intended audience for these works; and it offers close readings of the artists’ illustrations, thereby demonstrating the changing reception of Tolstoy’s novel over time. Tolstoy’s novel attracted serious artists whose work offers intricate interpretations. Since most of these illustrations were commissioned during the Soviet period, they reveal a great deal about how that regime intervened in the reception of Anna Karenina and its author. For example, Piskarev’s illustrations, aimed at American readers, show that even though Tolstoy was considered to be one of Russia’s great geniuses, there were important distinctions to be drawn between his ideas and those of the CPSU. Samokhvalov’s illustrations of 1953 also emphasize Tolstoy’s importance as a genius and try to formalize Anna Karenina’s pertinence to some of the main tenets of communism. Vereiskii’s illustrations reveal the readership’s turn away from the Marxist view of the epic dialectic of history and turn towards the intimate sphere of the family and the household. The broader implication of my dissertation is its hint at the rich tradition of illustration in Russia in the 20th century. It thereby takes a preliminary step into outlining the progression of this history and into describing its characteristics.Ph