The French Language in Russia is the joint winner of the 2019 R. Gapper Book Prize
The Society for French Studies has announced that the R. Gapper Book Prize for the best book in French Studies published in 2018 is awarded jointly to The French Language in Russia: A Social, Political, Cultural and Literary History, Derek Offord, Vladislav Rjeoutski and Gésine Argent (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2018) and The Music of Dada: A Lesson in Intermediality for our Times, Peter Dayan (London: Routledge, 2018).
The award commends books of critical and scholarly distinction which have a clear impact on the wider critical debate. The winner is selected by the Gapper Book Prize Jury, appointed by the SFS Executive and chaired by one of their number. Their decision is then proposed to the SFS Executive and to the R. H. Gapper Charitable Trust, who jointly award the prize. The criteria for award of the prize are, broadly, the book’s critical and scholarly distinction and its likely impact on wider critical debate. In assessing these, the following qualities will be taken into account:
- Scope and range
- Intellectual ambition
- Originality
- Coherence and persuasiveness
- Depth of scholarship
- Eloquence
The French Language in Russia has been commended as,
"Not only a model of co-authorship, but a ground-breaking study of immense scholarly distinction which makes a real contribution to the wider debate about what Francophonie is and was."
In 2019, The French Language in Russia was awarded the 2019 Marc Raeff Book Prize awarded by the Eighteenth Century Russian Studies Association (ECRSA). Amsterdam University Press offer their fullest congratulations to the co-authors Derek Offord, Vladislav Rjéoutski, and Gesine Argent on these exceptional achievements.