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Tolstoy’s Kreutzer Sonata on Stage: Domestic Violence and the Economics of Pity, Part I
I pictured myself as the narrator in Tolstoy’s 1889 novella The Kreutzer Sonata. Like me, he feigns sleep to escape a talkative seatmate. Like me, he is failed by this...
Tolstoy’s Kreutzer Sonata on Stage: Domestic Violence and the Economics of Pity, Part II
Pity is weird. We happily extend it to strong figures but we’re stingy with the weak, with actual “victims.”
"With the Slavonic Tongue One Cannot Be a Scholar": A Revised Assessment of Liberal Arts Culture in East Slavic Lands
If the first liberal arts academies in East Slavic lands swiftly attained a reputation for academic excellence, and were endorsed by both Church and state authorities, why was their introduction...
Russia is Attacking Western Liberal Democracies
Russia is engaging in an orchestrated, strategic campaign whose purpose is to erode liberal democracy in Europe and the United States.
Excerpt from Brandon Schechter's “The Stuff of Soldiers: A History of the Red Army in World War II Through Objects"
This book tells the story of that dramatic change—from a desperate, retreating band to a victorious army—as experienced by soldiers. The years 1941–1945 replayed in real life a universal tale...
Sex secrets of the Russian classics
Reason #137 to study Russian literature: apparently, it will teach children about sex. This is a good thing, because no one else in Russia seems to want to.
Russia’s Grasp on Okhotsk Will Intensify South China Sea Tensions
The closing of the Sea of Okhotsk will also greatly exacerbate maritime tensions in the greater Pacific.
Why the international community shouldn’t ignore the Crimean Tatars
Early in 2014 the Russian annexation of Crimea caused international uproar. Subsequently, things went quiet. Today, the media are paying attention again, as they reveal how local Russian authorities are...
Penile Servitude and the Police State
Sunday before last, on the drizzly police holiday, Petersburg performance artist Petr Pavlensky (b. 1984) sat stark naked in Moscow's sacred center and nailed his scrotum to the cold cobblestones...
Gubernatorial Tenure, Turnover, and Succession in Russia
There are striking differences in how long regional executives remain in office in different multilevel autocracies. For example, China has a compulsory retirement rule for provincial heads at the age...
Marital Happy Endings and Cultural Politics in a Contemporary Australian Adaptation of Anna Karenina
In our time, there is a definite expectation that people know what they want and ensure their own happiness.
Wright's Wrongs: Filming and Failing Anna Karenina
They couldn't have reproduced all of Tolstoy's intricate balance, but they could certainly have tried harder.
New York Public Library Appoints Full-Time Slavic Curator
On October 15, 2018, Bogdan Horbal became the full-time Slavic curator at the New York Public Library. He holds a Ph.D. in history from University of Wrocław in Poland and...
Constantin Katsakioris on The Lumumba University and the promise of a Soviet-Third World alliance
Constantin Katsakioris assesses the Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow, both as an education institution and an experiment in international cultural policy.