Prozorov S.M. The Leningrad/St. Petersburg School of Scientific Islamology // The Heritage of Soviet Oriental Studies. Ed. by M.Kemper & S.Conermann. London & New York: Routledge, 2011. P. 112-123.
Over the last twenty years the Russian book market has been flooded with
publications on Islam that were produced by authors who are not Islamic studies
professionals. Mostly financed by various Muslim organizations, these publications
do not reflect the research results of specialists from Russia or the West; rather,
they often have an apologetic and sometimes even confrontational character. To be
sure, in Soviet times, the Russian reader was hardly spoiled for choice in terms of
writing on Islam. Now, though, he finds it hard to navigate through this ocean of
books, brochures, journals and newspaper articles. Students of the Muslim Orient
face the same problem…