Reading Russian Fortunes
Print Culture, Gender and Divination in Russia from 1765

The first examination of the cultural impact of fortune-telling in Russia from the eighteenth century to the present.

Faith Wigzell (Author)

9780521024792, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 16 March 2006

268 pages, 7 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.413 kg

'… the book has many merits, as well as a high level of scholarship. … Most importantly, this monograph provides a useful compendium and discussion of information on a neglected subject which broadens our understanding of pre-revolutionary Russian culture.' Modern Language Review

Reading Russian Fortunes examines the huge popularity and cultural impact of fortune-telling among urban and literate Russians from the eighteenth century to the present. Based partly on a study of the numerous editions of little fortune-telling books, especially those devoted to dream interpretation, it documents and analyses the social history of fortune-telling in terms of class and gender, at the same time considering the function of both amateur and professional fortune-telling in a literate modernizing society. Chapters are devoted to professional fortune-tellers and their clients, and to the publishers of the books. An analysis of the relationship between urban fortune-telling and traditional oral culture, where divination played a very significant role, leads on to a discussion of the underlying reasons for the persistence of fortune-telling in modern Russian society.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Dreambooks and other fortune-telling guides
2. Divination in Russian traditional culture
3. Readers and detractors
4. Printers and publishers
5. Women, men and domestic fortune-telling
6. Fortune-tellers and their clientele
7. Sages and prophets
8. Disappearance and revival
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Cultural studies [JFC]