Russian Spirit Research Articles

«Кто мы»: цивилизационные идеи классического евразийства и их эволюция

Classical Eurasianism inherited the “genes” of Slavic resistance to the European cultural monopoly, it offered its own view on the typology of civilizations and geopolitics and created its own political philosophy. Based on criticism of the universality of Western civilization, classical Eurasianists put forward the concept of Russia as a unique Eurasian civilization and gave their answer to the questions “who are we?” and “where are we going?” L.N. Gumilev, who called himself “the last Eurasianist,” became the author of a civilizational theory in which geographical features corresponded to certain characteristics of civilization, at the same time his views were based on geopolitics and on the desire to rethink the concept of the Russian spirit. Classical Eurasian political philosophy is closely related to the problem of choice that Russia is now facing; it offers its own view of the roots of Russian civilization, being a direct ideological predecessor of neo-Eurasian political philosophy. Its research has positive implications not only for Russia in its fight against historical nihilism and in restoring its national identity, but also for providing reference for the self-cultural construction of all ethnic groups in the process of globalization. The concept of community of human destiny put forward by China advocates taking into account interests of other countries when pursuing its own interests, and promoting the common good of all countries in the pursuit of own development, which may provide reference for the theoretical construction of Eurasianism.

The Split in the Political Elite of the Empire as an Obstacle to the Activities of Mikhail Muravyov: Lessons for Nowadays

In 1863, the Russian Empire faced a formidable challenge – an armed rebellion of the Polish nobility, supported by Western Europe aspiring to divide Russia into regions dependent on it. The Tsar persuaded the brilliant oppositional politician and 1812 Patriotic War hero M.N. Muravyov, possessing experience in fi ghting the Poles during their last rebellion in 1831, to lead the suppression of the new riot as Governor-General of the Western Region. However, our conservative hero, relying on the Russian spirit and the collectivism of the Russian people, was opposed not only by obvious enemies – rebel Polish gentry, but also by ministers who were adherents of Westernized cosmopolitanism and became the main force restraining the conservative reformer. On the contrary, the spiritual and cultural Russian elite, led by the Metropolitan of Moscow Filaret and poet and thinker F.I. Tyutchev warmly supported Muravyov’s patriotic course. However due to the tsar’s mental dependence on the high-ranking “Рarty of cosmopolitans” and the lesser infl uence on him of the “Russian party”, Muravyov was not allowed to complete the reform program. The author comes to the conclusion that in our time of growing threats to Russia’s security due to the new onslaught of the West on Russia, our political elite should take into account the experience of Muravyov’s struggle “on two fronts” with the inadmissibility, in fact, of internal betrayal. In other words, our political class must avoid splitting while striving for unity on a nationally oriented basis with appropriate personnel recruitment.

Гобетти П. Достоевский как классик и мистик русской литературы

<p>In an essay written in 1921, the Italian thinker, writer and publisher Piero Gobetti conducts a critical analysis of the creative heritage of F. M. Dostoevsky from certain positions. Exploring the spiritual and moral problems of the Russian writer, the author creates an integral image of Dostoevsky the classic and categorically does not recognize Dostoevsky the mystic, pointing out that mysticism in his work stems from the style itself — the «torturous psychological analysis» of life. The original text is a fragment of the earliest edition of P. Gobetti's collection «Paradox of the Russian Spirit» («Paradosso dello spirito russo», (1926)), not translated into Russian. An analysis of general cultural reflections on the role of the Russian intelligentsia and the role of Russian literature in the collection is given in the article of this issue «“The Paradox of the Russian Spirit” by Piero Gobetti». </p><p>The translation was made according to the publication: Gobetti P. “Dostoievschi”, <em>Paradosso dello spirito russo</em>. Torino: Edizioni del Baretti, 1926. 256 p. URL: <a href="https://archive.org/details/paradossodellosp0000gobe/page/n9/mode/1up" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/paradossodellosp0000gobe/page/n9/mode/1up</a></p>

«Парадокс русского духа» Пьеро Гобетти

During his short life, the Italian anti-fascist intellectual Piero Gobetti (1901–1926) was able to accomplish the incredible. He was the founder, editor and author of three magazines (Energie nove, 1918; La rivoluzione liberale, 1922; Il Baretti, 1924); he managed his own publishing house (Piero Gobetti edizioni), in which 114 volumes were published in 4 years; wrote books, articles, was a translator from russian. In Italy, they recognize his importance as one of the main distributors of Russian culture in Turin in the 1920s. In Russia, they are almost unfamiliar with the publications of P. Gobetti, even with his repeatedly reprinted work entitled «The Paradox of the Russian Spirit» (1926). In this article we try to consider the general cultural aspects and paradoxes of the time and place of this study's appearance in the context of the change of epochs, intellectual movements of those years and in the Italian national context. Looking ahead, we can say that the book, conceived as an analysis of the revolutionary ideology's movement in Russia, or at least it is completed chapters, turned out to be a text about Russian culture, or even, according to Vittorio Strada, about the specific role of the russian «intelligentsia». For a better understanding of the views of P. Gobetti, this issue also provides a translation of his essay «Dostoevsky as a classic and mystic of Russian literature», published in 1921.

Cultural Activity of the Cossack Emigration in the Territory of the Three Rivers

The article examines the appearance of the Russian Cossacks on the territory of Northwestern Manchuria, namely the Three Rivers, the construction of the first settlements, their cultural life and the translation of Russian traditions. The authors of the work set a goal to study the contribution of the emigrant community to the development of the image of this region, the process of preserving traditional orders and foundations. This problem is considered in the article from the material and spiritual-social directions of culture. The relevance of the topic is due to the process of returning to active social activity of the Cossacks. In modern Russian society, discussions about the essence of the Cossacks, the economic, moral, social and spiritual foundations of their life do not cease. The authors use the fundamental principles of historical science. The principle of objectivity made it possible to evaluate the analyzed historical documents taking into account the subjectivity of their author. Representatives of the Cossack emigration in the Three Rivers were active in cultural life, which against the background of the cultural life of other emigration groups, was distinguished by its initiative. All achievements in different aspects of culture had a special Russian personality. They were reflected not only in everyday life and material culture, but also in the development of institutions such as education, literature, publications, the church, etc. Arriving on the Manchurian side, the Cossacks brought with them their way of life and culture, which strengthened on foreign territory and became a reference point for the development of the region. Thanks to the location of the Chinese authorities, the Three Rivers began to grow and develop rapidly. People fleeing wanted to feel like an integral part of Russia. Various representatives of the emigrant Cossacks, including the intelligentsia, the clergy, sought to support the Russian spirit and opposed assimilation. The paper identifies and seems promising the need for further research, reconstruction, translation and support of the Cossack culture of the Russian Three Rivers.

RUSSIA OF CHICHIKOV AND RUSSIA OF GOGOL IN THE POEM “DEAD SOULS”

The paper considers the polysemy of the image of Russia in N. V. Gogol’s “Dead Souls.” It is a new angle of research; its relevance is connected with the reception of the category of church construction allowing to see new characteristics in Gogol’s poetics. The objective of the study is to establish a link between the category of church construction, which manifests itself in the church symbolism, and Gogol’s text poetics. The research methodology presents an attempt to study “Dead Souls” in the context of the Orthodox tradition. On the external pictorial plane, appears the image of Russia, seen by Chichikov. This is the image of provincial Russia, striving to copy “enlightened” Europe, therefore it appears as its counterpart: now as pseudo-Russia, then as pseudo-Europe. A hotel and a tavern are placed in the foreground in Chichikov’s provincial Russia. Chichikov seems to consciously avoid meeting the real Russia, the symbols of which are the church space, its living soul, embodied in nature, songs, and the Russian language. During the travels through the estates of landowners, the image of this caricatural Russia is overgrown with the motifs of vulgar fashion, vulgar art, caused by the imitation of Europe. The anti-aesthetics of a still life in the poem is intended to symbolise the world of the death of the human soul. The growth of infernality is manifested in the motifs of exaggerated physicality in the paintings in the estates of the landowners, in the organisation of their environment. On the outer plane “Dead Souls” act as a guide to the 92 world of death, in which a person with a dead soul is able to reproduce only a similar dead culture. The image of St. Petersburg Russia in the story about Captain Kopeikin appears as if in a kaleidoscope of illusory images: like Semiramis. Persia. America, India. Genuine Russia is manifested in the inner plane of the poem, in the author’s outlook. Its symbols are the language itself, in which culture is created, the Russian spirit, reflected in the songs, the beginninglessness and infinity of Russia, expanding to the vast Universe, heeding Its Creator.

Cultural picture of Russian history

With a cultural approach, the history of Russia falls into three different stories: the history of the state, the history of the ethnic group, the history of the culture itself each of which lives its own life and in its own time. The Russian state did not form around the Russian world, but around the Danish money of the IX-XI century, the phenomenon of which distorts the whole picture of European feudalism. The ethnic culture of Slavism is determined by the taboo system of civilization in the process of Indo-Aryan migrations, which can theoretically be restored. As for the Russian culture, it is more original and Russian state, and Slavic. Russian culture, the Russian spirit are related to the society of the nobility of previous civilizations, borrowing elements of chivalry. The overlapping of three different stories turns into both the originality of Russia and many oddities in politics, economics, warfare, in the fields of art, religion, education.

«Дух русской культуры» в современном музыкальном искусстве

The article examines the process observed in Russian national culture associated with the implementation of Russian national images and characteristic features of the Russian worldview in the modern musical space. Russian musical culture, which previously followed the features of national identity in almost everything, is now more inclined towards a cosmopolitan point of view. If in the European regions of Russia this tendency can be traced more clearly, let us turn our attention to the musical culture of Siberia, which, as you know, “the wealth of Russia will grow”. Let us dwell on the work of one of the modern young Siberian composers, whose work confirms the promising nature of the "Russian spirit" in the modern cultural space.

Севастопольские рассказы Л.Н. Толстого: духовные смыслы Крымской войны

The article examines L.N. Tolstoy’s Sevastopol stories. The analysis is provided with hitherto unpublished archival sources, namely letters to Archbishop Innokenty (Borisov) of Crimean monks and white clergy. The study reveals the reasons why the Crimean War, according to some, turned out to be a defeat for Russia, and according to others, it was the victory of the indestructible Russian spirit. The author shows how Tolstoy recreated the psychological picture of the Crimean War in the Sevastopol stories, clearly outlined its spiritual meanings; and how an artistic, imaginative system of Tolstoy’s narrative is built in an interpolar space: peace and war, eternal and momentary, divine and human. Truth is the protagonist of the Sevastopol stories, and it is revealed in them in all the variety of Tolstoy’s artistic techniques, the origin of which lies in real life. Tolstoy’s own unique system of moral assessments was further developed in the novel “War and Peace.” The author of the article outlines parallels between the Crimean War and the Patriotic War of 1812 — both in historical memory and in the work of Tolstoy.

Review of <i>Apophatic Literary Criticism. Notes of a Non-philologist</i>

Apophatic Literary Criticism. Notes of a Non-philologist’ by Marianna Dudareva demonstrates Russian spirit and reflects the immense variety of characters and plots that influence people and manifest the creative power of literature. The author introduces a number of writers, from Sergei Yesenin to Vladimir Korolenko, with unique literary styles and a common apophatic approach to reality. The term apophatic comes from the Greek word to deny and initially referred to religious studies where it served both as a concept and a method. Apophatic theology attempted to approach God by negations rather than affirmations of what God is. M. Dudareva’s work showcases how literature studies instrumentalize the apophatic method of philosophy. This review complements the study with a reflection on the topic of death and its inextricable connection with life. Literature speaks of life and dwells on the struggle for life, that is also key to philosophical thinking. Enough to mention Arthur Schopenhauer and his idea of the will to live. In contrast to philosophy, literature uses a vivid, colorful, and copious language, while philosophy is concerned with universal principles. Some distinguished authors managed to bridge this gap. For instance, Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, and Sartre created works of both literary and philosophical nature. The same can be traced in the short stories by B. Zaytsev and A. Grin, analyzed in the book. B. Zaytsev writes about death approaching us first through others, this idea is also found in V. Jankélévitch’s work Death. Death is never ours for it is always we or our death, but when we see it around it causes anxiety and fear. In Avdot’ya-smert’ (Avdot’ya-Death) the main character says a prayer to be relieved of her mother and son, whom she considers a burden. Once death enters their home it never stops, it gets closer, and at the end of the story it takes Avdot’ya too. In Grin’s Fighting Death, death struck Lorkh falls asleep and herein dreaming is not a harbinger of the darkness of eternal sleep. On the contrary, Lorkh wakes up willful and hopeful, he fights for his life and succeeds. These stories vibrantly illustrate the victory of life over death and death over life as the result of exercising one’s free will. Color in literature is another topic touched upon by the author. M. Dudareva refers to Goethe’s Zur Farbenlehre to speak about contrasts, and R. Steiner to underline the importance of black in creating an image where color range matches the emotional range.

"Holy Russia" In English Literature: Concept Development during the 1870S–1910S

The idea of Holy Russia is one of those most significant spiritual phenomena of Russian culture which are difficult to define. The issues addressed in the article are of particular relevance due to the growing scholarly interest in the identification of the concept of Holy Russia and its place in the national cultural identity. The study aims to reveal the content of the concept in the first half of the 19th century in different discourses of the Russian culture and to define the specific features of two early stages of its perception in the English literature. The methodology chosen by the author corresponds to the complexity of the research objectives: interdisciplinary in nature, it combines the method of comparative conceptology with the methods of comparative literary criticism and theoretical concepts of imagology.The article demonstrates that the concept of Holy Russia receives new impulses for development within the framework of Russian culture in the 19th century. That was a period of intensive search for a national idea and ideology, a unique "Russian spirit" and the national character of the Russian people — search that was oriented in the direction set by the concept of Holy Russia. Reflections on Holy Russia for the first time became an integral part of Russian historical, political and philosophical discourses; in literary texts, they not only correlated with new motives of personal responsibility, prayer aspiration and the national ideal, but also partly lost their axiological uniqueness.The article proves that the content of the Russian concept of Holy Russia was in stark contrast to the content of the concept of Holy Russia emerging in the British culture around the 1870s. Initial interpretation of the latter was largely determined by the nature of British-Russian political relations. In the context of Russophobic sentiments in Britain, the term "Holy Russia" was originally interpreted in English journalism and literature (Swinburne, 1884) as a smokescreen, hiding the murderous tyranny of the tsarist regime.The article describes the significant changes that the concept of Holy Russia was undergoing by the end of the 19th century, which was partly due to the ideological pressure of the Russian political emigration on the English intellectual elite. Thus, for example, F. Adams in his poem ‘Holy Russia’ portrays the Russian people very sympathetically, in the allegorical image of a woman tormented by a powerful snake and, at the same time, illuminated with spiritual light and belief in the possibility of liberation from terrible bonds. Each of the main versions of the Holy Russia concept, formed in the English culture by the 1910s, finds its reflection in the novel "Joan and Peter" by H.G. Wells.The materials analysed in the article can have practical implications for historical, literary and cultural research on the Russian culture and the Anglo-Russian cultural and literary ties.

Srednii mir. L’eurasismo e la riflessione storica di Nicola Ottokar

Abstract Within the generation of Russian intellectuals, emigrated because of the Revolution and disseminated in universities all over the world, a new critical elaboration of Russian history was born. It was an authentic cultural movement; it called itself eurasianist, and their historical theses took the name of Eurasianism. For the Eurasianists, Russian history underwent an epochal turning point following the Mongol invasion and domination, which dragged Russian politics, economy, and culture towards Asia. It was the Asian cultural influence that dominated the most profound Russian spirit and made the country the beacon of future civilization, in contrast to Western decadent capitalist materialism. Nikolaj P. Ottokar was a highly respected specialist of medieval Florence, but he was also a Russian émigré, who desired to make his homeland known in a Western Europe that had an image of Russia mostly filtered through the most recent events and ideological paroxysm of those years. Ottokar belongs to that generation of exiles and dedicated two books (1936 and 1950) to Russia’s history. Through the analysis of those texts and the historical part that Ottokar wrote for the Italian Encyclopedia under Russia, this article (the first of a wider project on the Russian historian) aims to analyze Ottokar’s historical thought on Russia and understand whether or not the medievalist shared the eurasianist theses.

«НА ЕВРОПЕЙСКИЕ СОБЫТИЯ В 1854 ГОДУ»: ДОСТОЕВСКИЙ В ДИАЛОГЕ С ПОЭТАМИСОВРЕМЕННИКАМИ О «СВЯТОЙ РУСИ»

The major focus of the research is the content of the “Holy Russia” concept in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s poem “On the European Events of 1854”, analyzed in the context of the writer’s creative biography, as well as in the “big” context of historic, military, and political events of 1854, and the wave of poems evolved in Russian literature in response to these events. The author argues that, by the beginning of the Crimean war in 1854, Dostoevsky acquired a new understanding of himself, the Russian people, and Russia. This new understanding had, at its core, the notion of Christ’s absolute holiness, of inner connection between a person and a person through compassionate Christian love as an undoubted value, of vibrant pulse of this love in the Russian heart. No wonder, then, that the poem “On the European Events of 1854” - written by Dostoevsky in March 1854 and devoted to the political, historic, and religious situation connected with the Crimean War - comprises significant motifs characteristic of the writer’s mature works (primarily, the motif of holiness of Russian people’s ideals) and, thus, cannot be considered simply an expression of the author’s loyalty to the tsar and those in power. Two literary contexts - of military-patriotic poetry and of Slavophile poems devoted to the Crimean War - allow distinguishing between the common topics and the author’s voice in the poem. The text has three distinct parts: the first is profoundly innovative, both in the form and content, while the second and third ones basically follow the samples of Slavophile and military-patriotic poetry, correspondingly. The peculiarity of the “Holy Russia” concept, actualized in the first part of the poem, is determined by its involvement with the image of a “little man”, on the one hand, and by the significance of the motifs of self-sacrifice, sufferings, Christian love and faith, on the other. The name “Holy Russia” corresponds here to the Russian people’s historic way of shaping the state and defending it as a truly national value; it expresses the basis of the “Russian spirit”: self-sacrifice; Orthodox notions; respect for such holy things as family and motherland, the tsar and the state; the Russian people’s belief in a sort of special connection with the Lord. The analysis of the way the name “Rus’ ” functions in Dostoevsky’s other “Crimean” poem - “On the First of July 1855” - verifies the hypothesis that the writer’s concept of “Holy Russia” was formed in his poems devoted to the Crimean War.

Memory production, vandalism, violence: Civil society and lessons from a short life of a monument to Stalin

Memory production, vandalism, violence: Civil society and lessons from a short life of a monument to Stalin

ОСОБЕННОСТИ ПРЕПОДАВАНИЯ ЭТИЧЕСКИХ КОНЦЕПТОВ РУССКИХ СКАЗОК ИНОСТРАНЦАМ

The fairy tales contain plot and language elements that illustrate the ethical concepts of the Russian language picture of the world. Linguistic and cultural unit, which is rich in Russian fairy tale, known to every native speaker, on the one hand, complicate the understanding of them foreigners, and on the other help to understand the “Russian spirit” and traditions of Russian involved in Russian culture and allow formation of linguocultural competence for learners of Russian language. When referring to fairy tales, it is effective to use a linguocultural comment. Linguistic and cultural commentary refers to additional culturally significant information contained in texts and disclosed in their interpretation. This comment can be used at the elementary and basic levels. At an advanced level, you can analyze concepts that reveal the features of the Russian worldview. Ethical concepts reflect the value picture of the human world. These concepts include love and loyalty, humility and submission, joy and suffering, wisdom and patience, charity, and others. Russian fairy tales, describing the way of life, customs and traditions, spiritual and ethical values of the Russian people, are a reflection of the Russian mentality. For successful communication with native speakers and comfortable stay in a foreign language space, foreigners need to understand the values and mentality of the Russian people. Studying ethical concepts in fairy tales in the RFR classes forms a linguistic and cultural competence for foreign students, whose knowledge leads to rapid and successful adaptation in Russia, and the elimination of cultural and communicative barriers when communicating with native speakers of the Russian language.

ЦЕННОСТНАЯ И СОЦИАЛЬНО-ПСИХОЛОГИЧЕСКАЯ ТУРБУЛЕНТНОСТЬ КАК ФАКТОР ОБНОВЛЕНИЯ РОССИЙСКОГО МЕНТАЛИТЕТА

The article deals with the manifestations of value and social-psychological turbulence as a factor of the update of the Russian society’s mental structures. The idea that large-scale integration processes and internal restructuring of the entire living space have influenced the metaphysical foundations of the Russian spirit and emphasised their binarity and ambivalence is substantiated. Dispersion of meaning-value and social-psychological attitudes has generated postmodernistic forms of behaviour and interaction, which are a response to the mutual influence of archaic and transnational identities.

CONTRIBUTION OF CHOIR CONDUCTORS TERĒZE BROKA AND STANISLAVS BROKS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF LATGALIAN CULTURE IN DAUGAVPILS IN THE 60s OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Latgalian culture of the 60s and 70s of the 20th century is still insufficiently studied and evaluated. Although this time in Latvia is marked by the dominance of the Soviet ideology in all spheres of social life, russification, and ban of Latgalian print, there were people who managed to develop Latgalian identity and culture. Terēze Broka (1925) and Stanislavs Broks (1926–1977), the two outstanding choir conductors, are among such people. After graduation from Latvia State Conservatory they were appointed to work in Daugavpils. In this city, characterized by Russian spirit and with no choirs, the two conductors within a short period of time managed to establish musical collectives and develop repertoires where along with the obligatory Soviet songs Latgalian folk songs were included. In autumn 1954, Terēze Broka established a women’s vocal ensemble „Daina” and a group of kokle (a Latvian national musical instrument) players, and looked for more unknown Latgalian songs at the Academy of Sciences of the Latvian SSR. The folk songs were arranged by her husband, conductor and director of Daugavpils Music College Stanislavs Broks who in 1956 established a mixed choir, later called „Daugava”. Due to their persevering work in a short period of time both Daugavpils musical collectives gained brilliant success and were nominated to the VI World Youth and Students Festival in Moscow in summer 1957 where they were awarded the silver prize. This success is followed by the bright parade of Latgalian performance, the week of Latgalian culture in Riga in December 1958, where the two Daugavpils collectives were at the centre of all events. It is noteworthy that the two collectives mainly consisted of Latvians, Russians and Poles who did not know the Latgalian language, but were diligent and motivated to learn to be able to sing in Broks’ collectives. In 1961 the Latvian Music Department in Minneapolis (USA) released the first disc of the Latgalian folk songs “Latgalian (Latvian) Folk songs“ compiled by Mikelis Bukšs. The disc contains 15 music pieces from the repertoire of Daugavpils mixed choir „Daugava” (conducted by S. Broks) and the women’s vocal ensemble „Daina” (led by T. Broka). „Aiz azara bolti bārzi”, „Aiz azara augsti kolni...”, „Siermi zyrgi, jauni puiši...”, „Audzit muni gari lyni”, „Es sovai māmeņai...” and other Latgalian folk songs arrangements served as a specific brand of Daugavpils, which strengthened the self-confidence of Latgalians of that time.

Black Bread by Peter Bush

more engaged with the Russian spirit than with the country’s quotidian concerns. The novel almost floats; we are engaged from beginning to end, and one couldn’t find a better companion than Rostov. Rita D. Jacobs New York City Emili Teixidor. Black Bread. Trans. Peter Bush. Windsor, Ontario. Biblioasis. 2016. 393 pages. There is nothing more profound than the realization of what war does well beyond its official end. Peter Bush has given us a poetic translation of Emili Teixidor’s novel Black Bread, in which each line seems to be given complete attention and where Teixidor has loaded line after line with both wonderful and terrible beauty. From the opening scene to the finale, the narrative of war and chaos and coming-of-age is underpinned with what seems an eternal forest—a natural world that holds secrets and desires and will ultimately outlive all the pettiness that is humanity. Though the narrative of Black Bread is based in Catalonia just after the Spanish Civil War, it is a timeless setting for contemporary humanity. This is a novel that will stick with us because of the continued relevance of divisive social orders in addition to the complexities of religion and politics. Telling a story of war, class divisions , sexuality, religious doctrine, executions , and fascist rule from the point of view of a young boy is, perhaps, one of the best ways to deliver a litany of existential questions without a hint of preachiness . It unfolds flawlessly, through honest characters, scenes, and descriptions of rural Spain. From the start, we are folded into a familiar world—the close relationships that children have as they grow up together; the hard-working family; the grandmother with infinite wisdom. Ultimately, Emili Teixidor’s novel allows us to see aspects of ourselves by situating us in moments of sympathy for the speaker . Teixidor’s linguistic brushstrokes paint everything we need in order to see ourselves just as the speaker finally does himself: that we are, in the end, always somehow at war within ourselves. That we are all doomed to someday grapple with moments so uncomfortable and arresting that we might find ourselves completely changed into something we no longer recognize. Sarah Warren University of North Texas Sachin Kundalkar. Cobalt Blue. Trans. Jerry Pinto. New York. The New Press. 2016. 240 pages. The entrance of an unknown stranger who radically impacts the lives of other characters is a commonly used fictional device. Consider Pasolini’s Teorema, where the entrance of an opaque character called “The Visitor” radically changes the day-to-day existence of five characters. Sachin Kundalkar’s Marathi novel, Cobalt Blue, brilliantly translated by Jerry Pinto, deploys a similar device. The everyday and erotic lives of two characters, a gay man named Tanay and his sister Anuja, are completely altered after a young artist , whose backstory remains shrouded in mystery, rents an upstairs room in their parental home. The novel, divided into two parts (“Tanay” and “Anuja”), depicts the profound impact this stranger has on the two characters after he disappears without explanation. Tanay’s narrative is an imaginary, emotionally intense dialogue between an “I” and a “you.” Anuja’s narrative consists of diary entries where she tries to reconstruct her life after her lover leaves her. What unites these two narratives, which often show us the same events from different perspectives, is the polyvalent use of blue. Blue functions as a marker for the alluring difference of the other, for example when Tanay says: “You had a way of looking at things which seemed sharp, perceptive , cobalt blue.” The color signifies an incorporation of the other within the self when Tanay ruminates on relationships: “If nothing else,” he says, “you adopt some of the other person’s habits.” Almost as an afterthought, he reveals how his beloved is World Literature in Review 80 WLT JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2017 ...

Intelectuali bănățeni pe frontul Marelui Război / Intellectuals from Banat on the Front of the Great War

The outbreak of the conflict and the scale it took affected the Romanian society strongly, and the mourning covered the entire Banat. In this context, some intellectuals from Banat came to the front. They are the ones who lived the drama of the great war, being aware that the thousands of Romanians on the front are in the position to fight for a foreign cause. These intellectuals are those who, through the notes made on the battlefield, have made known the tragedy of the Romanian people, but also the drama of the great war. Interesting are some nuances highlighted by the testimonies of intellectuals like Peter Nemoianu, who in his memoirs speaks of the hardness and discipline of the Austrian front, but also of the hunger he suffered here and of the „Russian spirit” with which the prisoners were treated from the beginning, being accepted and tolerated. Publicist Cassian R. Munteanu, on the front, speaks of the drama of Romanians who have to fight for foreign interests, while Alexandru Ţânţariu witnessed a special meeting on the front, being the one who had the opportunity to discuss in Debrecen with a group of Russian prisoners, among whom he also found Romanians from Bessarabia. The lines written by Caius Brediceanu are also enticing. Arrived on the Italian front, he speaks in his memoirs of a „diabolical night”, in which he could no longer distinguish the rustle of the Austro-Hungarian cannon from that of the bugs sent by the enemies. Due to the difficult situation facing the Romanian society, some intellectuals from Banat have come to fight on the side of the Entente, contributing to the organization of Romanian volunteer troops, such as Cassian Munteanu, but also Avram Imbroane and Sever Bocu. All this describes the drama of the Romanian society, a divided society, but which, due to the difficulties that arose during the war and the activities of its intellectuals, succeeded in gathering, defending its national ideal and forming a new state.

Leucate Univers

more engaged with the Russian spirit than with the country’s quotidian concerns. The novel almost floats; we are engaged from beginning to end, and one couldn’t find a better companion than Rostov. Rita D. Jacobs New York City Emili Teixidor. Black Bread. Trans. Peter Bush. Windsor, Ontario. Biblioasis. 2016. 393 pages. There is nothing more profound than the realization of what war does well beyond its official end. Peter Bush has given us a poetic translation of Emili Teixidor’s novel Black Bread, in which each line seems to be given complete attention and where Teixidor has loaded line after line with both wonderful and terrible beauty. From the opening scene to the finale, the narrative of war and chaos and coming-of-age is underpinned with what seems an eternal forest—a natural world that holds secrets and desires and will ultimately outlive all the pettiness that is humanity. Though the narrative of Black Bread is based in Catalonia just after the Spanish Civil War, it is a timeless setting for contemporary humanity. This is a novel that will stick with us because of the continued relevance of divisive social orders in addition to the complexities of religion and politics. Telling a story of war, class divisions , sexuality, religious doctrine, executions , and fascist rule from the point of view of a young boy is, perhaps, one of the best ways to deliver a litany of existential questions without a hint of preachiness . It unfolds flawlessly, through honest characters, scenes, and descriptions of rural Spain. From the start, we are folded into a familiar world—the close relationships that children have as they grow up together; the hard-working family; the grandmother with infinite wisdom. Ultimately, Emili Teixidor’s novel allows us to see aspects of ourselves by situating us in moments of sympathy for the speaker . Teixidor’s linguistic brushstrokes paint everything we need in order to see ourselves just as the speaker finally does himself: that we are, in the end, always somehow at war within ourselves. That we are all doomed to someday grapple with moments so uncomfortable and arresting that we might find ourselves completely changed into something we no longer recognize. Sarah Warren University of North Texas Sachin Kundalkar. Cobalt Blue. Trans. Jerry Pinto. New York. The New Press. 2016. 240 pages. The entrance of an unknown stranger who radically impacts the lives of other characters is a commonly used fictional device. Consider Pasolini’s Teorema, where the entrance of an opaque character called “The Visitor” radically changes the day-to-day existence of five characters. Sachin Kundalkar’s Marathi novel, Cobalt Blue, brilliantly translated by Jerry Pinto, deploys a similar device. The everyday and erotic lives of two characters, a gay man named Tanay and his sister Anuja, are completely altered after a young artist , whose backstory remains shrouded in mystery, rents an upstairs room in their parental home. The novel, divided into two parts (“Tanay” and “Anuja”), depicts the profound impact this stranger has on the two characters after he disappears without explanation. Tanay’s narrative is an imaginary, emotionally intense dialogue between an “I” and a “you.” Anuja’s narrative consists of diary entries where she tries to reconstruct her life after her lover leaves her. What unites these two narratives, which often show us the same events from different perspectives, is the polyvalent use of blue. Blue functions as a marker for the alluring difference of the other, for example when Tanay says: “You had a way of looking at things which seemed sharp, perceptive , cobalt blue.” The color signifies an incorporation of the other within the self when Tanay ruminates on relationships: “If nothing else,” he says, “you adopt some of the other person’s habits.” Almost as an afterthought, he reveals how his beloved is World Literature in Review 80 WLT JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2017 woven into his perception of self: “Yesterday , when a cobalt blue smudge of the wall ended up on my hand, I wiped it on my trousers without thinking.” Blue operates as a cipher of loss like the blue paint drying on the floor in Tanay’s “museum of broken things” or the “stream...