An Epistolary Empire: On Esperanto, Russia, and a World of Possibilities

Abstract

This is a contribution to the forum "Conceptualizing National Modernism" inspired by the publication of the new book by Galina Babak and Alexander Dmitriev, The Atlantis of Soviet National Modernism: The Formal Method in Ukraine (1920s–Early 1930s) (Moscow: NLO, 2021). Brigid O'Keeffe focuses on transnational and international modernisms in Russian history on the example of Esperanto – a constructed international language created in the Russian Empire. She argues that Esperanto provides a unique frame for a better historical understanding of the Russian Empire and fin-de-siècle globalization. As a case of "international modernism," the history of the Esperantist movement is also suggestive in regard to early Soviet policy toward coordinating a modernist form with content that serves the foundation of a collective self-identification.