In Memory and Literature, Renate Lachmann combines literary theory with textual analysis in a consideration of some of the major texts of Russian modernism. Reflecting on works by Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Bely, Mandelstam, Akhmatova, Mayakovsky, Nabokov, and lesser-known Russian writers, Lachmann goes beyond formalist approaches to literature by developing insights from structuralist and poststructuralist theory.

Lachmann argues that memory is crucial for a full understanding of the way literary writing functions, and explores memory as an essential concern in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Russian prose and poetry.

Throughout, Memory and Literature is rigorously formal, culturally astute, and stylistically brilliant, and is essential reading for those who enjoy Russian literature and literary criticism.