Posts Tagged ‘war’
The Humane Russia I Love, The Brutal Russia I Hate
As someone who’s dedicated much of my professional life to studying Russian literature and culture, I’m following the tragic war in Ukraine with great interest and sadness. It is teaching me lessons both personal and political: how dictatorships work, how bullies maintain their grip on power, how leaders’ deep inferiority complexes often masquerade as superiority…
Read MoreWhy Most Russians Still Love Putin
I’m often asked how Russian literature of the past can help illuminate Russian politics today. I recently wrote an article on this very subject and received a number of follow-up questions. One of the most interesting of them was: Why is Putin still so popular in Russia despite the world’s response to his war and…
Read MoreIf Only Putin Had a Soul, Tolstoy Could Be the One To Save It. Here’s Why.
I wrote this article back in 2014, when Putin annexed Crimea. Back then the title was “How Tolstoy Can Save Putin’s Soul.” The tragic stakes are much higher now and Putin’s soul is clearly beyond saving, but the cultural backdrop is still entirely relevant so I wanted to share it with you. The drama being…
Read MoreHow The People of Ukraine Are Living Out The Deepest Lessons of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky
Pierre Bezukhov at the Battle of Borodino in War and Peace Ukraine And Russia Whenever I mention that I teach Russian literature these days, I get a weird look of surprise, confusion, or even disgust. I’m not alone. A few weeks ago a German university canceled a class on Dostoyevsky in order to make a…
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