The main characters in Anna Karenina all strive to attain their conception of the good life. Their ideas about what this life entails differ drastically: some seek personal happiness, some endeavor to serve the public good, and others try to strike a precarious balance between these two goals. This paper briefly describes four influential philosophical theories about […]
Adam Fuss has worked as a freelance writer, editor, translator, and communications professional for over eight years. Prior to establishing ABF Communications in early 2008, he worked on a series of assignments in Moscow, Russia as a writer and translator for several high-profile global corporate communications projects. He holds a graduate degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. […]
Can a poet influence his own legacy after his death? Consider the power of an individual’s era, homeland, contemporaries, and critical reception as additional deciding factors toward establishing a legacy. With several sources of interpretation, it is inevitable for multiple legacies of a person to emerge in the wake of a singular event; it can […]
Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita (1967) and Heart of a Dog (1925) are among the most provocative works which challenge the Stalinist vision of controlled cultural space. His stories illustrate in detail how space forms society and influences cultural development. Through his prose, Bulgakov exhibits a unique understanding that Stalinism maintained control of society by controlling Soviet space. His […]
The phenomenon of self-publishing is by no means new or unique to the Soviet Union. Indeed, self-published letters and manuscripts have been circulated among the people of Russia from the time of Prince Kurbskii’s letter to Ivan the Terrible to the 17th century writings of archpriest Avvakum.[1] However, the term samizdat (literally “self-published”) can be used to […]
In The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky spends countless pages elucidating his ideal of love. Among his many characters, he offers complex portraits of two intriguing individuals, whose love does not quite fit his definition of this ideal. The Grand Inquisitor and, by extension, his creator Ivan, are often seen as simply hyper-rational characters who reject God’s […]
The Petersburg Musuem of Dolls/ Петербургский музей кукол ул.Камская , 8 Open from 10.00-18.00 Price: 150 rubles for students Museumdolls.ru I consider myself a bit of a kid at heart; therefore, when I first heard about the Petersburg Museum of Dolls, I jumped at the opportunity to visit it. I was so enchanted by its colorful, […]
“The Leningrad Collection” and “I Keep This City” in St. Petersburg / “Ленинград Коллекция” и “Я этим городом храним” в Санкт-Петербурге K Gallery Ул. Галерной, 47 Prices: 100 rubles for students Coming to and from the dorms everyday, I have passed by advertisements for two art showcases: the “Leningrad Collection” and “ I Keep This […]
Ballet stands as one of the most acclaimed forms of Russian high culture, and perhaps no other show best captures this magnificence as Peter Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. So when SRAS (the School of Russian and Asian Studies) provided the opportunity to attend a performance at the Musical Comedy Theater, my fellow students and I felt […]
