Open Letters

"Open Letters is a wonderful contribution to Russian history, rich in insights into popular culture and shedding new light on a host of topics of central concern to scholars in the field. In comparison to western scholarship, Russian historiography has been slower to delve into cultural history using such resources as postcards, advertising, and popular entertainment, and so Alison Rowley's book is an important contribution to an emerging field. It will find an eager audience among Russian historians, as well as European and American historians interested in comparative approaches to cultural history." -- Sally West, Truman State University "Well-written and provided with fascinating illustrations, Open Letters is a major contribution to Russian history and cultural studies. The scholarship is very impressive: the author makes reference to a tremendously wide range of literary, artistic, and cultural sources dealing with all aspects of Russian life (and death), from gardens to pornography." -- Jonathan D. Smele, Queen Mary, University of London

Gorgeously illustrated, Open Letters uses picture postcards to explore aspects of Russian popular culture in the fin-de-siècle era.

During the fin-de-siècle and early revolutionary eras, picture postcards were an important medium of communication for Russians of all backgrounds. In Open Letters, the most comprehensive study of Russian picture postcards to date, Alison Rowley uses this medium to explore a variety of aspects of Russian popular culture. The book is lavishly illustrated with more than 130 images, most of which have never been published before.

Through her examinations of postcards, Rowley addresses a diverse range of topics: how landscape postcards conveyed notions of imperialism; the role of postcards in the rise of celebrity culture; depictions of the body on erotic and pornographic postcards; how postcards were employed to promote differing interpretations of the First World War; and the use of postcards by revolutionary groups seeking to overthrow the Tsarist government. Rowley determines the extent to which Russia was embedded in Europe-wide cultural trends by situating the Russian case within a larger European context.