The Slavic Literature Pod

Show Notes:This week, Cameron releases some pent-up stress by yelling about 1984 for...a bit. Then Matt gets personal in a 20 Questions Gauntlet—time to find out what his most embarrassing sartorial decisions have been. Tangentially, you’ll also find out how long it takes him to google ‘sartorial.’Also...apologies to Edith Wharton. You deserve better.Major themes: POUM, Ranting about 1984, Converting NPCs to Russian Orthodoxy in D&D.The music used in this episode was “Bella Ciao,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠FacebookAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Show Notes:This week, Matt and Cameron tackle the first half of Evgeny’s Zamyatin’s We. Perhaps the first novel of sci-fi dystopia as we would recognize it today, We portends a dark future where Ciphers rise uni-millionly, work uni-millionly, and have sheepishly (I like to imagine) register for sex day uni-millionly. Come along as we follow the journey of D-503 as we read the novel that launched a thousand rip-offs.Major themes: Pink Slips, 1984, and Mathematical Socialism.08:46 - “Enclave” is what I meant to say, instead of “conclave.”21:17 - In fact, it was a 1931 speech where Stalin proclaimed that the USSR had ten years to industrialize, “or be crushed.”29:45 - Terms and Conditions Matt meant to say and EULA I meant to say.The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Amazon⁠! Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠FacebookAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Show Notes:This week, Matt and Cameron dive into the poetry of Anna Akhmatova, reading “Song of the Final Meeting,” “Lot’s Wife” and Requiem. Each of these selections comes out of a very different place in her life, so join us as we examine her development as a writer! Also, the development of a life under Stalinism. That’s the less fun way of putting it.Major themes: The Great Terror, Translations, The Eyes Have It.03:52 - Fun fact, “uh-dyeh-sa” is a very Russian pronunciation of Odessa. Depending on the crowd you’re in, you may want to stick with simply “oh-de-sa,” the Ukranian pronunciation, to avoid offending anyone.09:17 - Actually, I was slightly mistaken here: Tsar Nicholas abdicated and tried to name his brother, Grand Duke Michael, as the succeeding Tsar, though Michael declined the throne. So, yes, it is accurate to describe him as the Last Tsar of the Russian empire.Followup: this is why it is very important to double-check things you don’t have a clear source on. A good tenth of the things I learned from professors or tour guides in Russia ended up needing a qualifier the size of the country itself.12:45 - Her son was slated to be executed, is what I meant.28:05 - Smiting. Smiting is the Biblical H-Bomb. The many, many teachers I’ve had in various Bible studies classes presumably broke out into sudden tears when I said that.31:33 - Among many, many other charges, I mean. Also, there were complex party politics involved in the decision to liquidate him, not merely a desire to distance themselves from the purges.The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠FacebookAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Show Notes:This week, Matt and Cameron dive into metaphors for communism and explorations of grief in “The Cow” and “The Third Son” by Andrei Platonov. Coming of age during the Russian Civil War, Platonov became an official member of the Communist Party in 1920—though he quickly became critical of the party, especially as it began to unveil its plans for industrialization in the New Economic Policy, and was soon expelled. These conflicting feelings are well-represented in his very strange works so get some snacks, be nice to your cow, and tune in!Major themes: Animals As People, Naturalistic Communism, Denouncements.01:55 - As much as it paints me to admit it, this may not actually be true.12:54 - I meant to say that it fetched a higher price when it was younger.24:10 - Here’s a handy little frame of reference for how much 100 rubles translates to in real money over the years.The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠FacebookAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Show Notes:This week, Matt and Cameron will learn not to specifically challenge the devil in “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” by Leo Tolstoy. Hailed as “the greatest story that the literature of the world knows,” by James Joyce (honestly, it might be more notable if someone hasn’t lauded a work by Tolstoy as such), How Much Land makes use of the skaz storytelling style in order to convey a morality tale about a man who, in his greed, learns exactly how much land he needs.Major themes: Koumiss, Skaz, Oddly aggressive conversation between siblings.17:10 - I got my wires crossed on this one. Gandhi was not a member of a Tolstoyan cult, although he did set up a cooperative farm in South Africa named after Tolstoy. Additionally, the two never met although they did exchange letters.35:10 - “Greed is bad but koumiss is phenomenal.” Just wanted to savor that a bit more.The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠FacebookAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Show Notes:This week, Matt and Cameron talk about what they’ve been doing and reading in their free time, how knowing Russian has changed their understanding of Russian-language literature, and dunk on their International Relations degrees.Also, join our Discord! I promise that we'll only likely be deep in a weird conversation when you enter. Major themes: Warhammer 40k, Thoughts (™) on having degrees in IR, Matt being a real scholar.01:50 - I decided to look this one up and it turns out the answer is way too complex for me to add as a shownote.16:05 - Here I’m referencing the poem “A don Francisco de Quevedo,” by Luis de Gongora.The music used in this episode was “bella ciao,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠FacebookAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Show Notes:This week, Matt and Cameron finish the second half of Fathers and Children by Ivan Turgenev. In doing so, they discuss the finer points of dueling etiquette, the most ironically romantic death possible, and go on about the Narodnaya Volya again. The humor and conflict are finely interwoven into the latter half of this text and we hope you appreciate it as much as we do!Major themes: Feeling bad about not calling our parents more often, self-deceiving characters, the collision of ideology and human emotion.05:23 - Lenin’s older brother Aleksandr Ulyanov was a member of the Narodnaya Volya (and, in fact, was quite an important ideologue within the group) before his 1887 arrest and execution.29:48 - I meant to say “character piece.”The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.Buy this book with our affiliate links on Bookshop or ⁠Amazon⁠! Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠FacebookAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Show Notes:This week, Matt and Cameron read chapters 1 through 17 of Fathers and Children (1862) by Ivan Turgenev. The literary responses of this book include many of the most prominent in the Russian canon, not least of all is Chernyshevsky’s What is to Be Done? and the myriad responses that book induced (among its respondents were Dostoevsky and Lenin!). But what exactly makes this book such a mainstay of mid-19th century political debate? You’ll have to stick around to find out...Major themes: Frogs, Nihilism, Bazarov is a NEET prove me wrong.04:38 - This isn’t to say that what happened in each of these individual cases was that democratic-style governments suddenly came to power, but rather that (even when the upsurge failed to change the system, as was mostly the case) the political norms began to shift towards to style of governance with which we are more familiar with.25:55 - I couldn’t remember at the time who was the exact group who assassinated Aleksandr the 2nd so I equivocated, but it was, in fact, members of the Narodnaya Volya who carried it out.26:15 - In this case, I was referring to Vera Zasulich, who attacked a police commissioner who was known for abusing his prisoners.29:24 - Or theoretically real human being.29:53 - Just to clarify: this is not, in fact, actually good stuff.35:32 - Let’s...let’s pretend my pronunciation of “shto dyelat” wasn’t nearly as embarrassing as it actually is.The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.Buy this book with our affiliate links on Bookshop or ⁠Amazon⁠! Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠FacebookAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Show Notes:This week, Matt and Cameron delve into Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky, along with Dr. Kaitlin Shirley, who earned her PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Texas, Austin. Her dissertation, entitled “Dostoevsky and the Rousseau Trap: Considerations on the Man of Nature and Truth. And on His Proposed Reformation,” analyzes many of the themes in Notes which we will be discussing in this episode.Dr. Shirley has some really interesting connections to make—especially to the literature that influenced Dostoevsky as he was writing Notes—which, among many other things, made chatting with her a blast! We hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making it!Major themes: Toothache, Poor Liza, An Unquenchable Thirst to be a Dick.29:08 - We all make mistakes in the heat of passion, Jimbo. Only now in the throes of editing have I realized that Matt was not talking about the U.M. believing himself to be unbotherable, and my response is a total non-sequitur.We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Kaitlin for sharing her time and knowledge with us. You can find her on Instagram @dostoevskyordoesntshe, on Twitter @dostoevsky_txt, or on her Dostoevsky or Doesn’t She website.The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.Buy this book with our affiliate links on Bookshop or ⁠Amazon⁠! Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠FacebookAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

In this episode, Matt and Cameron explore the power of Gogol's writing in 'The Overcoat.' They discuss the themes of the Petersburg winter and a German beaver pelt, and delve into the tragic fate of Akaki. The hosts appreciate Gogol's humor and absurdity, analyze specific moments that appealed to them, and discuss the surrealism and ambiguity in the story. They also share updates on their personal lives and invite listeners to join them in reading 'Notes from the Underground'.