In February of 1902 Anton Chekhov wrote in a letter to his editor that if the censor cut or changed even one word of his short story “The Bishop,” Chekhov would not authorize its publication (Brown 12). Such a bold authorial demand suggests that multifaceted significance to every detail underlies a seemingly simple account of […]
In A.D. 1185, as the Kievan Rus Empire was starting to deteriorate, a little known prince on the eastern Russian borders led his outnumbered men into battle against Mongolian invaders, the Polovtsians (Kumans). This battle and its aftermath would become the topic of the Russian literary epic, “The Lay of Igor’s Campaign.” Its conclusion was […]
Book Review: Lazar Fleishman, Boris Pasternak: The Poet and His Politics (London, England; 1990) 359 pages In Boris Pasternak: The Poet and His Politics, Lazar Fleishman provides his reader with an in-depth look at the novelist and poet Boris Pasternak, beginning with his origins as a child musician and concluding with his receipt, and rejection of, the Nobel […]
Few symbols in literature are more evocative than blood. Its presence can conjure up fear, anger, sadness, confusion, and a host of other emotions in a reader. Blood seems to have a hold on the human psyche that is very nearly universal. Dostoevsky was no stranger to this concept. His novel Crime and Punishment makes frequent and […]
Fyodor Dostoevsky is best known for four novels: Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Devils, and The Brothers Karamazov. Despite the fourteen-year gap between when he wrote the first, Crime and Punishment, and the last, The Brothers Karamazov, the similar themes in Dostoevsky’s writings remain constant. The themes that exist in both these novels are very alike and […]
The following is an excerpt from a longer thesis. To access the full thesis in PDF, click here. Chapter I presented a practical definition of Socialist Realism: a dramatic genre emphasizing Marxist historicism, realistic presentation, populism, and which supports the Communist Party in its goals. Defining Socialist Realism is difficult because the Soviet government never […]
It has been said that Gogol’s career was like that of a meteor. It appears suddenly, burns brightly, fades quickly, and with its impact, changes the surrounding landscape and environment forever.[1] It is interesting that Gogol’s greatest play, The Government Inspector, was described with a similar power-type metaphor. Nabokov wrote, “(it) begins with a blinding flash […]
In 1922, while in Chicago as a guest of the director of the local opera company, Nicholas Roerich created a series entitled “Sancta” consisting of six paintings: “And We Are Not Afraid,” “And We Labor,” “And We Continue to Fish,” “And We Open the Gates,” “And We Bring Light,” and “And We See.” It has […]
