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 This book would not have existed without the stubborn passion of Jeremy Shine, then a graduate student in political science at the University of Michigan, who came to me to propose an interdisciplinary conference on Yuri Lotman. He was planning to use Lotman in his dissertation , he said, and hoped a conference would help resolve some questions of methodology he was struggling with. Imagine what would happen if every graduate student leapt into organizing a conference when he or she hit a conceptual roadblock. The symposium took place at the University of Michigan in 1999 under the title “The Works of Yuri Lotman in an Interdisciplinary Context: Impact and Applicability .” I remember distinctly vouching to myself that under no condition would I seek to publish the papers of the conference. So much for my pious intentions. Participants in the symposium, who clearly had enjoyed the whole affair, pushed hard. Chief among them was Amy Mandelker , to whom I am deeply indebted. It was in debates with her that the book project took shape and was first articulated on paper. We solicited several more articles to round out our concept, so much so that the final volume bears only a limited relationship to the original conference. The support of several friends and colleagues was critical. In particular , David Bethea, Caryl Emerson, and William Mills Todd III offered their unfailing advice and steadfast encouragement. As is often the case, I don’t know how best to express my gratitude. It has been a treat to work with the University of Wisconsin Press. Steve Salemson provided his full backing to the volume and expertly shepherded it through its various stages. We were blessed with two exceptionally thorough reviewers, Boris Gasparov and an anonymous one, whose input greatly strengthened our contributions. Publication of the volume was supported by the Office of the VicePresident for Research; the College of Literature, Sciences, and the vii Arts; the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies; and the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, all at the University of Michigan. These same units had also funded the original symposium. viii Acknowledgments ...

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