'By closely analysing the complex and multiple ways that classic works of Russian literature have been reimagined at different times and places, in different languages, cultures, genres and media, the essays in Burry and White's Border Crossing make a significant contribution not just to Russian Studies but to adaptation studies as well. Focusing on adaptation as "cross-cultural communication", Border Crossing opens up numerous exciting new avenues for future research by scholars of both literature and film.'
Tony Anemone, The New School, New York
Each time a border is crossed there are cultural, political and social issues to be considered. Applying the metaphor of the 'border crossing' from one temporal or spatial territory into another, this book examines the way classic Russian texts have been altered to suit new cinematic environments.
In these essays, international scholars examine how political and economic circumstances - from a shifting Soviet political landscape to the perceived demands of American and European markets - have played a crucial role in dictating how filmmakers transpose their cinematic hypertext into a new environment. Rather than focus on the degree of accuracy or fidelity with which these films address their originating texts, this innovative collection explores the role of ideological, political and other cultural pressures that can affect the transformation of literary narratives into cinematic offerings.
Alexander Burry is Associate Professor Associate Professor of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures at The Ohio State University. He is the author of Multi-Mediated Dostoevsky: Transposing Novels into Opera, Film, and Drama (2011).
Frederick H. White is Professor in the Department of Languages and Cultures at Utah Valley University. He has published two books on the Russian writer Leonid Andreev. He has also co-edited a selection of essays on the Russian avant-garde and is the co-author of Marketing Literature and Posthumous Legacies: The Symbolic Capital of Leonid Andreev and Vladimir Nabokov (2013).

Alexander Burry is an Associate Professor at The Ohio State University. He is the author of Multi-Mediated Dostoevsky: Transposing Novels into Opera, Film, and Drama (2011).

Frederick H. White is Professor in the Department of Languages and Cultures at Utah Valley University. He has published two books on the Russian writer Leonid Andreev; co-edited a selection of essays on the Russian avant-garde; and is the co-author of Marketing Literature and Posthumous Legacies: The Symbolic Capital of Leonid Andreev and Vladimir Nabokov (2013).

Introduction: Filming Russian Classics: Challenges and Opportunities, Alexander Burry; Passport Control: Across the Russian Border, Thomas Leitch; White Nights (1844): Dostoevsky's White Nights: The Dreamer Goes Abroad, Ronald Meyer; Crime and Punishment (1866): On Not Showing Dostoevsky: Robert Bresson's Pickpocket, Olga Hasty; Stealing the Scene: Crime as Confession in Robert Bresson's Pickpocket, S. Ceilidh Orr; Anna Karenina (1878): The Eye-deology of Trauma: Killing Anna Karenina Softly, Yuri Leving; Ward No. 6 (1892): A Vicious Circle: Karen Shakhnazarov's Ward no. 6, Alexander Burry; He Who Gets Slapped (1915): A Slap in the Face of American Taste: Transporting He Who Gets Slapped to American Audiences, Frederick H. White; Lieutenant Kijé (1928): Against Adaptation? The Strange Case of (Pod)Poruchik Kizhe, Alastair Renfrew; The Twelve Chairs (1928): Chasing the Wealth: The Americanization of Il'f and Petrov's The Twelve Chairs, Robert Mulcahy; Despair (1936): Fassbinder's Nabokov: From text to action!, Dennis Ioffe; Ticket to the Stars (1961): The Soviet Abroad (That We Lost), Otto Boele; Conclusion: Passport Control: Departing on a Cinematic Journey, Frederick H. White