Reorganization and Reform in the Soviet Economy

Richly represented in the Russian folktale tradition, the legends are religious tales (types 750-849 in the Aame-Thompson index) in a peasant village setting. Among the standard themes is the return of Christ, who wanders through rural Russia with his disciples. Satan appears here too, as do a cast of spirits and lesser devils. Pre-Christian gods may be recognized in tales of saints Ilya and Nikolai (Elijah and Saint Nicholas). The hapless peasant in these tales - cheated, betrayed, impoverished, foolish, orphaned, crippled - take the reader deep into the traditional village culture of Russia and into the imperfect human quest for moral choice and justice on this earth.

Biography

Susan J. Linz is an associate professor in the Department of Social Science at Michigan State University. She is the editor of The Impact of World War 11 on the Soviet Union. William Moskoff is the Ernest A. Johnson Professor of Economics at Lake Forest College and the editor of the journal Comparative Economic Studies. Professor Moskoff is the author of Labor and Leisure in the Soviet Union: Public and Private Decision-making in a Planned Economy.