Yuri Tynianov was a key figure of Russian Formalism, an intellectual
movement in early 20th century Russia that also included Viktor
Shklovsky and Roman Jakobson. Tynianov developed a groundbreaking
conceptualization of literature as a system within--and in constant
interaction with--other cultural and social systems. His essays on
Russian literary classics, like Pushkin's Eugene Onegin and works by
Dostoevsky and Gogol, as well as on the emerging art form of filmmaking,
provide insight into the ways art and literature evolve and adapt new
forms of expression. Although Tynianov was first a scholar of Russian
literature, his ideas transcend the boundaries of any one genre or
national tradition. Permanent Evolution gathers together for the first
time Tynianov's seminal articles on literary theory and film, including
several articles never before translated into English.