“[A] unique work of unusual importance and relevance in the post-Cold War world. . . . Up from Bondage is engaging and timely. For readers interested in slave/serf literature it offers remarkable insight into two disparate, yet similar intellectual traditions. For those engaged with literary theory and criticism, Peterson provides a provocative reading of the poetics and discourse theory of Bakhtin in relation to the ‘double consciousness’ of Russians and African Americans in the new diasporic world order of the twenty-first century. And for those concerned with the future of race and ethnic relations in world cultures, the volume encourages one to take sober lessons from our literary and cultural histories. In all, Peterson succeeds in that most difficult of tasks in writing: he has produced an insightful message for everyone.” — Thomas J. Garza , The Comparatist
“[F]ascinating stuff, and Peterson pulls it off with extraordinary elegance. . . . Peterson has produced a wonderful text, a must-read for anyone interested in the undercurrents of Western modernity.” — Eddie S. Glaude Jr. , American Literature
“[I]n the case of African American and Russian paradigms, as Peterson expertly proves, it is time to bring the soul mates together.” — Kate Baldwin, Shofar
“As a pioneering study, this book deserves high praise . . . .” — Kathleen Parthé , Slavic Review
“Peterson’s study brings together materials in a new way without violating or simplifying the cultural expression of either group. In doing so, he encourages us to rethink notions of nationalism, group identity, and cultural expression.” — Keith Byerman , Modern Fiction Studies
“This important, well-documented book opens new lines of inquiry to anyone interested in African American and Russian studies. Jargon-free, elegant, lucid prose makes this title accessible to all audiences—from the general and beginning undergraduate reader to the scholar.” — C. A. Rydel , Choice
“Whether or not one agrees with Peterson’s approach and argument, it is hard to deny the necessity of this call, or the founding significance that Up from Bondage has for the emerging Russian-American comparative field.” — Polina Rikoun , Comparative Literature Studies
"Up From Bondage examines the development of Russian and African-American ‘soul’ and reaps an abundance of cultural similarities. . . . [A] beautifully written volume that reflects meticulous research. The bibliography alone is a significant contribution to this much neglected area. What emerges from the book’s pages is a rich picture of a significant and sustained relationship between artists in these traditions. . . . Peterson has created a seamless presentation of this complex affiliation. . . . Up From Bondage is a monumental achievement. Peterson has completed an ambitious study and we are lucky beneficiaries of this fine piece of critical writing."
— Kathleen Ahern , Mississippi Quarterly
"Up from Bondage offers its readers not only new and often overlooked factual material, but also deep insights into intercultural crossroads by showing how seemingly distant and unrelated issues are woven together." — Vladimir Prozorov , American Studies International
"Up from Bondagehas much to offer the student . . . . [Peterson] must be congratulated on the fruitfulness of his endeavor . . . . [He] has widely chosen to compile an introductory survey that gestures toward further detailed research, inviting the reader to extend the dialogue." — Thomas J. Kitson , Research in African Literatures
"[A] beautifully written volume that reflects meticulous research. The bibliography alone is a significant contribution to this much neglected area. What emerges from the book's pages is a rich picture of a significant and sustained relationship between artists in these traditions. . . . The range of literary material from which Peterson draws is both deep and wide. . . . [A] satisfying read. Up from Bondage is a monumental achievement. Peterson has completed an ambitious study and we are the lucky beneficiaries of this fine piece of critical writing." — Kathleen Ahern , Mississippi Quarterly
"[A] satisfying read. Up from Bondage is an ambitious study made worthwhile by Peterson's ability to sustain a cogent argument spanning a period from the earliest proclamations of Russian and African American self-awareness to very recent developments within the African American canon." — Kathleen M. Ahern , Studies in Twentieth and Twenty-first Century Literature
"[A]n excellent example of the somewhat neglected art of comparative literature." — Michael Pursglove , Modern Language Review
"[P]ioneering. . . ." — Polina Rikoun , Comparative Literature Studies
"This is an important work of value not merely to scholars of Russian and/or African-American literature, but to all those interested in the comparative study of cultural aesthetics."
— Barbara Wyllie , S.E.E.R.
“A remarkable, almost epic book. Up from slavery and up from Slavdom: Dale Peterson focuses on comparable moments in the coming-to-consciousness of two ‘dark continents,’ the African and the Russian, where the stubborn fact of bondage for the many, a rich and conflicted dual identity for the educated few, and routine exclusion from the European mainstream as ‘non-historical peoples’ motivated a sophisticated intellectual odyssey that astonishes us afresh each time we rediscover it. Up From Bondage is an inspiration.” — Caryl Emerson, Princeton University
“Navigating the endless bounty of intellectual lapses and possibilities that reside in the gap between the West (qua ‘philosophy’) and the Rest (as barbaros, or racialized ‘outcasts’), Professor Peterson finds an accommodating comparative channel in similarities between African American and Slavic forms of intellectual, missionary, and cultural nationalisms. The result is one of those books one remembers as uncannily important, yoking together seemingly incompatible regions in interesting ways.” — Houston Baker, Duke University