ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the position of Russian women writers during a period of profound social and cultural transition between 1985 and approximately 2001. It discusses the economic, social, and aesthetic transformation of the literary field in general. The considerable changes were not merely incidental by-product of wider systemic change. Literature occupied a central position in the reform process, and was consciously enlisted by Mikhail Gorbachev when he publicly called upon the intelligentsia, writers, and mass media practitioners in general to 'seek the truth together'. In this way Gorbachev loosened the bonds of the literary world primarily with the political objective of curbing the increasingly powerful forces of conservative nationalism that threatened to undermine his intended programmes of reform.
