Ed. by Ben Hellman, Tomi Huttunen, Gennady Obatnin The volume is dedicated to Professor Pekka Pesonen on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. It includes 38 articles, written by Professor Pesonen's friends and colleagues - Finnish, Estonian, Russian and American scholars and also representatives of Professor Pesonen's Finnish School. The topics covered by the articles range from general and theoretical questions concerning mainly Russian literature, culture and semiotics to specific and detailed analyses of Russian literary history. The thematic variety (varietas) reflects Professor Pesonen's keen interest in the study of literature and culture, the semiotics of Russian cultural history and the analysis of Texts (literary and cultural) within their social contexts. But his interests never have been bounded only by the pure scientific goals and Pekka Pesonen is widely known as a translator, literary critic, great admirer of Russian culture and a part of it himself. The unity and agreement (concordia) of these different approaches is to be found in a search for understanding, - understanding literature, understanding the specifics of Russian culture. Ultimately, it is a quest for understanding the emergence and the narration of Texts in history.
Slavica Helsingiensia,
published by the Department of Languages at Helsinki University, was founded in 1983. The series includes monographs and collections of articles on linguistic and literary topics.The majority of the doctoral theses prepared in the Department in the field of Slavic languages and literatures have appeared in the series. A certain number of volumes, bearing the sub-heading Studia Russica Helsingiensia at Tartuensia, contain materials from conferences on Russian literature jointly organized by the Universities of Helsinki and Tartu. Further details on the contents of each volume may be found on the website of the series.
Toim. Ben Hellman, Tomi Huttunen, Gennady Obatnin Venäläisen kirjallisuuden professori Pekka Pesosen 60-vuotissyntymäpäivää juhlistava artikkelikokoelma sisältää 565 sivua ja 38 artikkelia nimekkäiltä ystäviltä ja kollegoilta ympäri maailmaa. Kirja on englannin- ja venäjänkielinen.