José Vergara, "All Future Plunges to the Past: James Joyce in Russian Literature" (Cornell UP, 2021)

Aug 17, 2025

José Vergara, an Assistant Professor of Russian at Bryn Mawr College, dives into the intriguing influence of James Joyce on Russian literature. He discusses how notable Russian writers like Nabokov and Olesha engage with Joyce's modernist themes, reflecting on literary lineage and cultural identity. Vergara highlights the complex interplay between admiration and critique among these authors, as well as the dynamic reception of Joyce's works in contemporary Russia. The conversation also touches on themes of identity, translation challenges, and Joyce's enduring legacy.

56:45

forum

Ask episode

web_stories

AI Snips

view_agenda

Chapters

menu_book

Books

auto_awesome

Transcript

info_circle

Episode notes

insights

INSIGHT

Personal Path Into Joyce Studies

Jose Vergara discovered Joyce through early attempts and a college independent study where Joyce clicked for him when read communally.
That layered personal history led him to pursue Joyce's reception in Russian literature as a dissertation topic and later a book.

insights

INSIGHT

Five Authors As Historical Case Studies

Vergara selected five Russian writers as representative case studies to map diverse responses to Joyce across eras and contexts.
He chose authors whose circumstances (early Soviet, émigré, post-Soviet) reveal shifting literary strategies toward Joyce.

insights

INSIGHT

How Joyce Reached Russian Readers

Early Russian encounters with Joyce came via critics like Evgeny Zamyatin and partial translations published in the 1920s.
These fragments introduced Joyce's innovations and fueled debates among Russian modernists about novelty and influence.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Joyce in Russian Lens

02:37 • 12min

chevron_right

Literary Paternity: Joyce's Influence on Russian Literature

14:38 • 11min

chevron_right

Joyce's Echoes in Russian Literature

25:29 • 9min

chevron_right

Joyce's Echo in Russian Literature

34:47 • 17min

chevron_right

Exploring Autobiography in Literary Contexts

Aleksandr (Sasha) Vsevolodovich Sokolov is a prominent Russian novelist, short story writer, playwright, and poet, known for his absurdist and satirical works. Born in Canada and raised in Moscow, Sokolov's works often explore themes of identity, alienation, and the search for meaning. His experimental style and metafictional techniques challenge traditional literary conventions. 'A School for Fools' remains one of his most acclaimed works. Sokolov's contributions to literature are marked by his unique blend of humor, philosophical depth, and linguistic innovation.

#21378

It Will Be Fun and Terrifying

Andrei Georgiyevich Bitov was a prominent Russian novelist and playwright, known for his works exploring the themes of paternity and literary heritage. Bitov's writing is characterized by its intellectual depth, experimental style, and exploration of themes such as memory, identity, and the nature of time. 'Pushkin House' remains one of his most acclaimed works. Bitov's contributions to literature are marked by his innovative approach to narrative and his engagement with the complexities of Russian history and culture. In his works, he combines metafictional elements with personal reflections, creating a unique and challenging literary experience.

#22511

Snapshots of the Soul

None

Molly Thomas' Blazing

#22911

James Joyce in the Russians

None

Neil Cornwell

#41195

All Future Plunges to the Past

Mikhail Pavlovich Shishkin is a contemporary Russian novelist and short story writer, known for his experimental and postmodern works. Shishkin's writing is characterized by its lyrical prose, intricate structure, and exploration of themes such as memory, identity, and the nature of time. 'Maidenhair' remains one of his most acclaimed works. Shishkin's contributions to literature are marked by his innovative style and profound philosophical insights. In his works, he combines historical events with personal narratives, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.

#13571

• Mentioned in 2 episodes

St. Petersburg

Translated with an introd. by John Cournos. Foreword by George Reavey.

Andrey Bely

#706

• Mentioned in 29 episodes

Finnegans Wake

David Hayman

James Joyce

Finnegans Wake is James Joyce's final and most complex work, written over a period of seventeen years. The novel is set in a dream world where the protagonist, Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker (HCE), and his family—wife Anna Livia Plurabelle (ALP) and their children Shem, Shaun, and Issy—undergo various transformations and identities. The book is known for its innovative use of language, combining elements from multiple languages and creating new words through portmanteaus and puns. It explores themes of identity, history, and the cyclical nature of life, drawing on Irish mythology, biblical narratives, and personal experiences. The novel's structure is circular, ending with the sentence that begins the book, creating a continuous loop.

#4469

• Mentioned in 6 episodes

Envy

A Theory of Social Behavior

Helmut Schoeck

Helmut Schoeck's "Envy: A Theory of Social Behavior" delves into the pervasive nature of envy and its profound impact on individuals and societies. Schoeck argues that envy is a fundamental human emotion, often overlooked in social and economic theories. He explores the various manifestations of envy, from its subtle forms to its more destructive expressions. The book examines the consequences of envy on social structures, economic systems, and political processes. Schoeck's work offers a compelling analysis of the role of envy in shaping human behavior and social dynamics. His insights provide a valuable framework for understanding conflict, inequality, and the pursuit of social justice.

#3279

• Mentioned in 9 episodes

Dubliners

James Joyce

Dubliners is a collection of short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. The stories are arranged to track the lives of Dubliners from childhood to old age, exploring themes such as the 'paralysis' of Irish society, the desire for escape, and the intersection of life and death. Each story features a different plot and characters but is connected by the theme of epiphany, where characters experience life-changing moments of revelation. The collection is known for its realistic portrayal of Dublin life, highlighting issues such as alcoholism, religious tension, and political concerns of the time.

#19461

• Mentioned in 2 episodes

A Portrait of the Artist

As a Young Man

James Joyce

James Joyce's 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' is a semi-autobiographical novel that traces the intellectual and emotional development of Stephen Dedalus. The novel follows Stephen's journey from his childhood to his eventual self-imposed exile from Ireland. It explores themes of identity, nationalism, religion, and the role of the artist in society. Stephen's struggle to break free from the constraints of his family, church, and country forms the core of the narrative. The novel is a profound exploration of artistic consciousness and the quest for personal and creative freedom.

#11856

• Mentioned in 3 episodes

AT SWIM-TWO-BIRDS

Flann O'Brien

At Swim-Two-Birds is a masterpiece of Irish literature, blending farce, satire, and fantasy. It tells the story of a young Irish college student who invents a novel about Dermot Trellis, whose characters rebel against him. The book is known for its inventive storytelling and influence on generations of writers.

#256

• Mentioned in 58 episodes

Ulysses

James Joyce

Ulysses is a groundbreaking and complex modernist novel that chronicles the experiences of three Dubliners over a single day. The novel is loosely based on Homer's epic poem 'The Odyssey', with Leopold Bloom paralleling Odysseus, Stephen Dedalus paralleling Telemachus, and Molly Bloom paralleling Penelope. It explores themes such as antisemitism, human sexuality, British rule in Ireland, Catholicism, and Irish nationalism. The novel is known for its innovative use of language and narrative techniques, including stream-of-consciousness and multiple literary styles. It captures the essence of early 20th-century Dublin, providing a detailed snapshot of the city's social, political, and cultural landscape.

#3370

• Mentioned in 8 episodes

Yevgeny Zamyatin

Written in 1920-21, 'We' by Yevgeny Zamyatin is a seminal work of dystopian fiction. The novel is set in the twenty-sixth century in a society known as OneState, where citizens are reduced to mere numbers and live in a glass-walled city under the control of the 'Benefactor'. The story follows D-503, a mathematician and spacecraft engineer, whose life is devoid of passion and creativity until he begins to realize his individuality. The novel explores themes of individuality versus collective identity, the impact of technology on society, and the struggle for freedom in a highly controlled environment.

All Future Plunges to the Past: James Joyce in Russian Literature (Cornell UP, 2021) explores how Russian writers from the mid-1920s on have read and responded to Joyce's work. Through contextually rich close readings, José Vergara uncovers the many roles Joyce has occupied in Russia over the last century, demonstrating how the writers Yury Olesha, Vladimir Nabokov, Andrei Bitov, Sasha Sokolov, and Mikhail Shishkin draw from Joyce's texts, particularly Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, to address the volatile questions of lineages in their respective Soviet, émigré, and post-Soviet contexts. Interviews with contemporary Russian writers, critics, and readers of Joyce extend the conversation to the present day, showing how the debates regarding the Irish writer's place in the Russian pantheon are no less settled one hundred years after Ulysses.

The creative reworkings, or translations, of Joycean themes, ideas, characters, plots, and styles made by the five writers Vergara examines speak to shifting cultural norms, understandings of intertextuality, and the polarity between Russia and the West. Vergara illuminates how Russian writers have used Joyce's ideas as a critical lens to shape, prod, and constantly redefine their own place in literary history.

All Future Plunges to the Past offers one overarching approach to the general narrative of Joyce's reception in Russian literature. While each of the writers examined responded to Joyce in an individual manner, the sum of their methods reveals common concerns. This subject raises the issue of cultural values and, more importantly, how they changed throughout the twentieth century in the Soviet Union, Russian emigration, and the post-Soviet Russian environment.

José Vergara is Assistant Professor of Russian at Bryn Mawr College.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

Home Top podcasts Popular guests Top books