Elena Burlina studies the anthropology of Russian culture. The subject of her research is genres of literature, music and painting. She shows that communal consciousness ("we", "the people") has shaped Russian existence and culture. The category of "we" has crystallised in Russian genres of being: the "polyphonic novel", the "choral picture", and the "folk musical drama". The introductory methodological section of the book, devoted to the theory of genre, is of independent research value. Relying upon a vast humanitarian tradition, the author defines genre as memory of culture, as "fractal of culture", as an embodiment of its being, time and space (chronotope). E.Y. Burlina's concept has already been used in educational and methodological publications (see E.Y. Burlina. City - Country - Planet. The Models of Humanism in Russian Culture. - Samara, 1995; E. Ya. The Way of the Century. - Moscow, Prosveshcheniye, 1993 and 1995). The author's methodology of genre analysis can also be applied to the cultural shifts of the present day. Elena Burlina's concept of genre analysis is an ideal basis for Russian exhibitions in Europe. Therein lies the practical significance of publishing this book in an international publishing house.