A book review: The History of Ural Literature. 19th century. In 2 vols. Ed. by E. K. Sozina. Moscow, Publishing house JASK, 2021, vol. 1. 664 p.; vol. 2. 778 p.

The review deals with the second volume of the academic edition “The History of Ural Literature,” prepared by a group of scholars from the Ural-Siberian scientific community. The merit of the issue is presenting the literary process and the Ural writers’ community as a complex sociocultural phenomenon aimed at work professionalization and connected with the history of the region’s self-determination. When presenting specific names, the authors of the project followed the principle description tasks: to show the connection of the writer’s biography and work with the territory, to emphasize how the works are filled with impressions of Ural life, to draw attention to the writer’s involvement in local cultural communities and support from leading literary figures and critics. Since the book covers a wide range of authors, a number of conclusions significant for the regional literary process understanding can be drawn. Biography materials allow speaking of a variety of social segments of people involved in writing: from base estates and plant workers to noble and intellectual people. Not everyone was ready for professional literary activity, but all quite openly demonstrated their reading tastes. By the end of the century, the cultural and aesthetic commonality of the Ural literature is defined. Its specific writing style becomes distinctive, with a tendency toward documentality, autobiography, and ethnography. Genre preferences become apparent. Genre preferences become apparent. Most importantly, the names appear, starting to be identified by critics as “the Urals writer.”