Matters of Humanities

The sixth episode of the podcast is about “A ticket to the stars” by Vasili Aksyonov (1932-2009), published in 1961. Although Soviet officials vehemently denied its existence, after the Second World War the Soviet Union saw the emergence of a relatively independent youth culture.  Youngsters developed their own dress code, spoke in slang, and demonstrated an outspoken preference for Western music. A testament to this development, Vasily Aksyonov’s “A Ticket to the Stars” quickly gained the status of a cult book, especially after the authorities tried to limit its accessibility.  In this episode we focus on Aksyonov’s sparkling youth novel and the authorities' relentless attempts to defuse it. It will also become clear how persistent Stalinism was in the 1950s, even in the thinking and language of the most outspoken anti-Stalinists.

Sources used in this episode of "Scandal and Controversy in Russian Literature":

- Boele, Otto. 2016. “The Soviet Abroad (That We Lost): The Fate of Vasilii Aksenov’s Cult Novel ‘A Starry Ticket’ on Paper and on Screen,” in: Border Crossing. Russian Literature into Film, edited by Alexander Burry and Frederick H. White (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press), pp. 223-238.

- Clark, Katerina. 2000. The Soviet Novel. History as Ritual, 3d edition (Bloomington: Indiana University Press).

- Fürst, Juliane. 2010. Stalin’s Last Generation. Soviet Post-War Youth and the Emergence of Mature Socialism (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

- Gorsuch, Anne. 2011. All This Is Your World: Soviet Tourism at Home and Abroad after Stalin (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

- Graffy, Julian. 2005. “Film Adaptations of Aksenov. The Young Prose and the Cinema of the Thaw,” in: Russian and Soviet Film Adaptations of Literature, 1900-2001, edited by Stephen Hutchings and Anat Vernitskaia, pp. 100-115.

- Horton, Andrew and Michael Brashinsky. 1992. The Zero Hour. Glasnost and Soviet Cinema in Transition (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).

- Kozlov, Denis. 2013. The Readers of Novyi Mir. Coming to Terms with the Stalinist Past (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press).

- Petrov, Dmitrii. 2012. Aksenov (Moscow: Molodaia gvardiia).

- Prokhorov, Aleksandr. 2007. Unasledovannyi diskurs: paradigmy stalinskoi kul’tury v literature i kinematografe ‘ottepeli’ (St. Petersburg: Akademicheskii proekt).

List of translations used in this episode of "Scandal and Controversy in Russian Literature":

- Aksyonov, Vasili. 1962. A Starry Ticket (A Ticket to the Stars). Translated by Alec Brown (London: Putnam & Co. Ltd.).

All other translations were done by Otto Boele.

© Otto Boele & Electrical Films 2024

The fifth episode of the podcast is about “The Pale Horse” by V. Ropshin (pseudonym for Boris Savinkov, 1879-1925), published in 1909. Boris Savinkov was a well-known terrorist in late imperial Russia. He was the mastermind behind the deadly bomb attacks on the Minister of Interior and Grand Prince Sergei Alexandrovich. But Savinkov also had literary ambitions and the necessary connections among prominent writers who were quite willing to coach him. The result was the novella “The Pale Horse”, according to one critic the “most Russian book since the publication of Dostoevsky's immortal novels.” Is it an autobiographical confession novel or a revolutionary pamphlet? Did Savinkov the writer show remorse for the blood he had shed as a terrorist or was it just a pose?

Sources used in this episode of "Scandal and Controversy in Russian Literature":

- Geifman, Anna. 1993. Thou Shalt Kill. Revolutionary Terrorism in Russia, 1894–1917 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).

- Patyk, Lynn Ellen. 2010. “The Byronic Terrorist: Boris Savinkov’s Literary Self-Mythologization,” in Just Assassins: The Culture of Terrorism in Russia, edited by Anthony Anemone (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press), pp. 163–189.

- Spence, Richard B. 1991. Boris Savinkov. Renegade on the Left (Bolder, CO: East European Monographs).

List of translations used in this episode of "Scandal and Controversy in Russian Literature":

- Savinkov, Boris (V. Ropshin). 2019. The Pale Horse. A Novel of Revolutionary Russia. Translated by Michael R. Katz (Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh University Press).

All other translations were done by Otto Boele.

© Otto Boele & Electrical Films 2024 

The fourth episode of the podcast is about “Sanin” by Mikhail Artsybasjev (1878-1927), published in 1907. In this year, Russia was swept by a wave of moral panic caused by Artsybashev’s novel “Sanin”. Russian youth was said to have united in secret sex clubs and eagerly indulge in debauchery. Where did these stories come from? And was any of it true? This episode takes the listener back to an extremely tumultuous period in Russian history in which literature, rumours and news reporting merged creating the lasting impression of a society desperately in search of its moral compass.

Sources used in this episode of "Scandal and Controversy in Russian Literature":

- Anemone, Anthony. 2010. “Introduction,” in: Just Assassins: The Culture of Terrorism in Russia, edited by Anthony Anemone (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press), pp. 3-23. 

- Beer, Daniel. “The Morality of Terror: Contemporary Responses to Political Violence in Boris Savinkov's The Pale Horse (1909) and What Never Happened 1912),” Slavonic and East-European Review 85, no. 1 (Jan. 2007), pp. 25-46. 

- Boele, Otto. 2009. Erotic Nihilism in Late Imperial Russia. The Case of Mikhail Artsybashev’s “Sanin” (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press).

- Engelstein, Laura. 1992. The Keys to Happiness. The Search for Modernity in Fin-de-Siècle Russia (Ithaca: Cornell University Press).

- Kelly, Aileen.1987. “Self-Censorship and the Russian Intelligentsia, 1905-1914,” Slavic Review, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Summer), pp. 193-213.

List of translations used in this episode of "Scandal and Controversy in Russian Literature":

- Artsybashev, Mikhail. 2001. Sanin. Translated by Michael R. Katz (Ithaca/London: Cornell University Press, 2001). 

- Stirner, Max. 1995.  Stirner: The Ego and its Own. Revised translation by Steven Byington (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995).

All other translations were done by Otto Boele.

© Otto Boele & Electrical Films 2024

The third episode of the podcast is about The Kreutzer Sonata by Lev Tolstoy (1828-1910), published in 1890. This novella is one of the most confusing and controversial texts in Russian literature. Apart from arguing that modern marriage is a form of prostitution, Lev Tolstoy seems to implore us to abstain from any form of sex. Concerned readers flocked to their pens and asked their teacher for clarification, but Tolstoy also had some explaining to do within his own family. His wife, who bore him thirteen children, was appalled at the hypocrisy of her husband, who preached total abstinence on paper, but in practice did not abide to his own rules. Episode 3 unravels the scandal of The Kreutzer Sonata, the tensions in Tolstoy's marriage and his increasingly radical ideas about sex and art.

Sources used in this episode of "Scandal and Controversy in Russian Literature":

- Engelstein, Laura. 1992. The Keys to Happiness. The Search for Modernity in Fin-de-Siècle Russia (Ithaca: Cornell University Press).

- Møller, Peter Ulf. 1987. Postlude to the Kreutzer Sonata. Tolstoj and the Debate on Sexual Morality in Russian Literature in the 1890s (Leiden: Brill).

List of translations used in this episode of "Scandal and Controversy in Russian Literature":

- Tolstaya, Sophiya. 2014. “Whose Fault Is It?” Translated by Michael R. Katz. In: The Kreutzer Sonata Variations: Lev Tolstoy's Novella and Counterstories by Sofiya Tolstaya and Lev Lvovich Tolstoy (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014).

- Tolstoy, Lev. 2014.“The Kreutzer Sonata” Translated by Michael R. Katz. In: The Kreutzer Sonata Variations: Lev Tolstoy's Novella and Counterstories by Sofiya Tolstaya and Lev Lvovich Tolstoy (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014).

All other translations were done by Otto Boele.

© Otto Boele & Electrical Films 2024

Episode two is about “What Is to be done?” by Nikolai Chernyshevsky (1828-1889), published in 1863. Chernyshevsky had no talent for writing but was well aware of it. For him, to write “beautifully” was far less important than putting yourself at the service of truth and building socialism. Despite his lack of literary talent, Chernyshevsky was one of Russia's most productive and influential authors who won the hearts of many left-wing activists with his utopian novel “What Is to Be Done?” in which he describes a radiant future offering complete equality between men and women. The ideological opponent of more talented authors such as Dostoevsky and Turgenev, Chernyshevsky matched them in popularity and soon became an icon of Russia’s revolutionary movement.

Sources used in this episode of "Scandal and Controversy in Russian Literature":

- Paperno, Irina. 1988. Chernyshevsky and the Age of Realism. A Study in the Semiotics of Behavior (Stanford: Stanford University Press).  

- Stites, Richard. 1990 [1978]. The Women’s Liberation Movement in Russia. Feminism, Nihilism and Bolshevism, 1860-1930 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).

List of translations used in this episode of "Scandal and Controversy in Russian Literature":

- Chernyshevsky, Nikolai. 2014. What Is To Be Done? Translated by Michael R. Katz (Ithaca/London: Cornell University Press).

All other translations were done by Otto Boele.

© Otto Boele & Electrical Films 2024

The first episode of the podcast is about “Philosophical letters addressed to a lady” by Pyotr Chaadaev (1794-1856), published in 1830. Russia has always had a love-hate relationship with the West; the debate between the “Westernizers” and the “Slavophiles” in the nineteenth century is a case in point. Pyotr Chaadaev was a “Westernizer” who claimed Russia hadn’t contributed anything to world civilization. He had to pay a high price for his “unpatriotic” views. How could a Russian declare that his fatherland was a complete failure? Chaadaev had the nerve to make such a claim and was severely punished for it.

Sources used in this episode of "Scandal and Controversy in Russian Literature":

- Pipes, Richard. 1969. “Biographical Sketch,” in: The Major Works of Peter Chaadaev. A Translation and Commentary, translated by Raymond T. McNally (Notre Dame:  Notre Dame University Press), pp. 1-11.

List of translations used in this episode of "Scandal and Controversy in Russian Literature":

- Chaadaev, Pyotr. 1969. “Philosophical letters addressed to a lady” and “Apology of a madman.” Translated by Raymond T. McNally. In: The Major Works of Peter Chaadaev. A Translation and Commentary (Notre Dame: Notre Dame University Press).

- Pushkin, Alexander. n.d. “To Chaadaev,” translated by Yuri Menis (https://ruverses.com/alexander-pushkin/to-chaadaev/12366/)

All other translations were done by Otto Boele.

© Otto Boele & Electrical Films 2024

Among the many emotions that Russian literature has triggered over the past 200 years, the triad of outrage, disbelief, and moral panic has been a particularly stubborn phenomenon. Literary critics, state authorities, and even disconcerted readers have regularly demonstrated their obsession with the assumed impact of novels and other ideologically charged literature on the moral state of society.

To highlight this scandalous aspect of Russian literature,  senior lecturer Otto Boele examines eight notorious texts, paying particular attention to the commotion that they created. With no prior knowledge of Russian literature required, listeners will be introduced to a variety of topical issues, ranging from Russia’s ambiguous relationship with the West and socialist utopianism, to sexual morality, Soviet youth culture, and political dissent in present-day Russia. All in all, the podcast series offers a fresh look at the history of Russian literature: largely ignoring the obvious masterpieces and focusing mainly on “bad,” yet undeniably influential, novels.

Muslims have been living in eastern parts of Europe for centuries. Since the 1970s, the presence of Muslims has also become a fact of life in other parts of Europe. In this last episode we will discuss where Europe and its Islam stand in the twenty-first century. Is it a continuation of the past, or are Europe and its Muslims sharing different worlds?

Matters of Humanities: History of Islam in Europe
People are often surprised that the history of the Islam in Europe is so much more than a history of wars. It's also a story of diplomacy and trade, knowledge and arts, from Muslims living together with Christians and Europeans for centuries. Muslims and the Islam are not things that just 'happened' to Europe, they are part of Europe. In this podcast series, professor Maurits Berger talks about the history of the Islam in Europe: going back to the first Muslim who set foot in Europe, and seeing what kind of interactions have taken place between Muslims and Europeans since then.

Music
• Radio Tarifa: 'Lamma badda' (Spain) • Amina Alaoui, 'Lamma badda' (Morocco) • Elina Duni: 'Lamma badda' (Albanian-Swiss) • Stefano Battaglia: 'Lamma badda' (Italy) • Maria del Mar Bonet: 'Lamma badda' (Spain) • Abdel Karim: 'Lamma badda' (Egypt) • Natacha Atlas: 'Lamma badda' (Belgian-Egyptian) • Hamza el Din: 'Mwasha' (Sudan)

By the end of the first world war, the Ottoman Empire had ceased to exist, and few Muslims still lived in Europe. That changed in the 1970s, when new Muslim communities were established in Europe by means of migration.

Matters of Humanities: History of Islam in Europe
People are often surprised that the history of the Islam in Europe is so much more than a history of wars. It's also a story of diplomacy and trade, knowledge and arts, from Muslims living together with Christians and Europeans for centuries. Muslims and the Islam are not things that just 'happened' to Europe, they are part of Europe. In this podcast series, professor Maurits Berger talks about the history of the Islam in Europe: going back to the first Muslim who set foot in Europe, and seeing what kind of interactions have taken place between Muslims and Europeans since then.

Music
• Marika Fratzeskopolou: 'Sto Kafe Aman' (Asia Minor) • Dobri Hristov: 'Mercy of Peace' (Bulgaria) • Isidor Bajic: 'Tears for the perished avengers of Kosovo' (Serbia) • Anton Pann: 'Pesrev Adjem Yeghia' (Wallachia) • Dora Pejacevic: 'Longing' (Croatia) • Loxandra Project: 'Ti Se Mellei Esenane' (Greece) • Cahit Berkay: 'Alyazmalim' (Asia Minor) • Giannakis Ioannidis: 'Apo Kato ap'tis Ntomates' (Greece)

In the eighteenth century, the Europeans became infatuated with all things 'Oriental' and 'Turkish'. At the same time, there was an increase in trade and diplomacy with the Ottoman empire.

Matters of Humanities: History of Islam in Europe
People are often surprised that the history of the Islam in Europe is so much more than a history of wars. It's also a story of diplomacy and trade, knowledge and arts, from Muslims living together with Christians and Europeans for centuries. Muslims and the Islam are not things that just 'happened' to Europe, they are part of Europe. In this podcast series, professor Maurits Berger talks about the history of the Islam in Europe: going back to the first Muslim who set foot in Europe, and seeing what kind of interactions have taken place between Muslims and Europeans since then.

Music
• Jordi Saval: 'Hisar Buselik Sarki' (Ottoman) • Jean-Baptiste Lully: 'Marche pour la Ceremonie Turque' (France) • Mozart: 'Rondo alla Turca' (Austria) • Beethoven: 'Turkish March' (Austria) • Giovanni Battista Donado: '2 Turkish love songs' (Venice) • Valentin Bakfark: 'Fantasia No.6' (Hungary) • Rossini: 'Che bel Turco!' (Italy) • Peter Cornelius: 'The Barber of Baghdad' (Germany) • Schubert / Goethe: 'Suleika I' (Germany)