literary critics, contemporaries of Bakhtin, as Skaftymov, Freidenberg or Tynyanov and those engaged in semiotics today like V.V. Ivan6v, N. Toporov or E. Meletinsky. For contemporary writers few of us can go beyond Pasternak, Solzhenitsyn or Evtushenko. The West chooses to publish or publicize only those Soviet intellectuals who seem to fulfil Western illusions about the Soviet Union. The fact of the matter however is that Soviet culture, with all its ups and downs has changed so fundamentally since the Revolution that the West is out of touch with it or else. deliberately ignores that which does not suit it. Otherwise, one cannot explain why some of the greatest living poets, writers, dramatists, architects and critics have not been published in the West. This issue of the journal is an attempt to bridge this gap. It is devoted to the contemporary Soviet cultural scene, laying special emphasis on the renascence in the Soviet Republics. Their experience in the fields of theatre, cinema, literature and architecture is of special relevance to us in India where a similar search is on. Most of the articles have been commissioned specifically for this issue of the JAI. An interview with the writer Chingiz Aitmatov is followed by a discussion of Prasanna's experience in the staging of Aitmatov's play The Ascent of Fujiyama. Cross cultural problems which Prasanna faced when staging European plays are overcome when dealing with a play of Asian origin. V. Ivanovo article discusses how two of Georgia's foremost theatre directors perceive and tackle the plays of Shakespeare. An introduction on the specificities of modern Georgian cinema is given alongside excerpts from two recent interviews with the filmmakerA. Tarkovsky. In architecture an example of the fusion between tradition and modernity is provided by the imposing Museum of Ethnography in Armenia. The restoration of the ancient centre of the city of Vilnyus was undertaken as an integrated approach involving architects, town-planners, archaeologists and historians. Only a coordinated study can result in preserving the urban heritage which is fast disappearing through rapid and unplanned urbanization. A theoretical article by E. Meletinsky on the rise of the romance and the novel has been included, followed by Rashmi Doraiswamy's short piece in which the inherent features of the West's appropriation of Bakhtin are brought to light. Our matter was already in the press when we received the news of A. Tarkovsky's untimely demise. We have, therefore, included a chapter on the film Sacrifice, intended as an addition to his hook. Sculpting in Time. Tarkovsky completed the chapter one week before his death. 4 Numbers 12-13