Book presentation: Alexander Kluge. Russia-Container

A book by writer, director, and new German cinema ideologist Alexander Kluge, Russia-Container is a collage of documentary and fictional texts about Russia: historical anecdotes, fragments of interviews, or essays.

Alexander Kluge's writings include essays, diary records, memoirs, short stories, fragments of interviews and reports, and historical anecdotes. In recent years, Kluge’s own definition of such literary forms has been “a container,” that is, a box with working materials on a particular topic. Container is a constructor, a mosaic, a puzzle, and never a complete whole, notes the translator Alexander Markin. 

As the author explains in the preface, his interest in Russia dates back to a promise made before the death of his sister, who was in love with Russian culture. As described by Kluge, Russia is a shimmering, fluid image experienced by a person from the West, where there is a place for both stereotypes and unexpectedly profound insights.

The book was introduced by Alexander Kluge and Garage Museum of Contemporary Art Chief Curator, Katya Inozemtseva.