Fandom, Authenticity, and Opera / Palgrave Studies in Cultural and Intellectual History (PDF)

Anna Fishzon is Assistant Professor of History at Williams College, USA.

“In Fandom, Authenticity, and Opera: Mad Acts andLetter Scenes in Fin-de- Siècle Russia, Anna Fishzon constructs aframework for understanding a feature of the era’s Zeitgeist: melodrama. … Inthis very short chapter of her work, the author explores topics of intersectionrich in potential for further investigation. Fishzon’s thoughtful andprovocative assertions here will appeal to readers interested in all mattersRussian.” (Lois Alexander, Slavic and East European Journal, 2015)

'In this fascinating and powerfully written history of opera fans and celebrities in late imperial Russia, Anna Fishzon offers us an almost operatic landscape, filled with compelling stories and important arguments about modern public life, the commercialization of art, sexuality and gender, emotions (especially fantasy and desire), and the meanings of key cultural questions such as sincerity and selfhood. This is an essential and compelling contribution to our growing knowledge and understanding of the Russian experience at the end of the old regime and of the tumultuous world of the European fin de siècle more broadly.' - Mark D. Steinberg, Professor, Department of History, University of Illinois, USA

'This book is an original and unusually informative study of Russian opera and its fans in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Though this period is probably the best-studied in all of Russian history, Fishzon has found an unexplored view on it and discovered an untapped body of archival material. She focuses on fans, groupies, and sponsors of Russian private opera theaters, and she reads their documents by using interpretative concepts that are informed by the studies of mid- twentieth century Hollywood fandom. As it happens, this meeting between national cultures and historical periods has produced fascinating results. I enjoyed reading this book and eagerly recommend it to students of Russian and European music, theater, and culture.' - Alexander Etkind,