Josef Dobrovsky' and the origins of the Igor' tale

This controversial and groundbreaking book revisits the origins of one of the most beloved works of East Slavic literature, the Slovo o polku Igoreve (the Igor' Tale).

Keenan delves into the history of the publication of the Tale and produces a meticulous analysis of its language in order to demonstrate that the text is not an authentic twelfth-century document.

Rather, Keenan argues that it is a product of the late eighteenth century, created by the Bohemian scholar Josef Dobrovsky'.

Keenan's thought-provoking insights into the creation and publication of the Tale will spark scholarly debate for many years.