

The Slavic Literature Pod
The Slavic Literature Pod
The Slavic Literature Pod is your guide to the literary traditions in and around the Slavic world. On each episode, Cameron Lallana sits down with scholars, translators and other experts to dive deep into big books, short stories, film, and everything in between. You’ll get an approachable introduction to the scholarship and big ideas surrounding these canons roughly two Fridays per month.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jul 14, 2023 • 45min
An Out-Of-Tune Piano, An Accordion by Andrukhovych
Show Notes:This week, Matt and Cameron get into something a little more modern with a short story from Ukrainian writer and translator Sophia Andrukhovych, “An Out-Of-Tune Piano, An Accordion.” Come join in as they debate the meaning of the fantasy or dream (or maybe terrifying reality?) of a woman named Viola as she stumbles upon a sort of danse macabre in the midst of worrying about her dying husband, Renat. Major themes: Dreams, Cats = good/bad?, “Diseased predator”02:04 - The White Chalk of Days26:45 - Sophia Andrukhovych In Dialogue With Orhan Pamuk28:58 - A Curse on Dostoevsky40:32 - Symphonie Fantastique41:13 - A composer, I should have said42:42 - Watch this Tonight w/ our own Matt GerasimovichThe music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. Check out the work of Shae McMullin, who did our wonderful podcast art. Our links: Website | DiscordSocials: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | ThreadsQuestions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Jul 7, 2023 • 50min
On The Way: A Sketch by Khvoshchinskaya
Nadezhda Khvoshchinskaya, author of the short story 'On the Way: A Sketch,' is discussed in this episode. The hosts talk about childhood, nostalgia, and the forgotten high-paid author of late 19th-century Russia.

Jun 28, 2023 • 24min
A New Name, A New Look, The Same Show
Show Notes:This week, Matt and Cameron say “sayonara” to Tipsy Tolstoy and “come on in” to The Slavic Literature Pod. RIP to having a valid reason to reference drunkenness on our resumes. Plus we address some questions you may have about the change. 08:53 - CarolynMarieReads' Youtube channel09:21 - Shae McMullin's InstagramThe music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. Our links: Website | Discord Socials: Instagram | Twitter | FacebookQuestions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Jun 16, 2023 • 58min
June Break: The Captain's Daughter
Show Notes:Note: This is a re-run of The Captain’s Daughter by Aleksandr PushkinIt’s week 4 of Matt and Cameron’s June break. So this week, we’re looking back at one of our favorite books from this podcast, originally put out in October of 2021.Major themes: Is it really fatalist?, My boy Pugachev, Benedict Anderson will never leave us alone04:52 - It’s “Farmer’s Daughter” by Rodney Atkins, if anyone’s wondering. 35:09 - “Alexandr Pushkin’s The Captain’s Daughter: A Poetics of Violence” by Alexander Groce39:08 - Plotting History: The Russian Historical Novel in the Imperial Age by Dan Ungurianu 39: 54 - “Between Nation and Empire: Aleksandr Pushkin’s The Captain’s Daughter” by Irina Anisimova47:45 - Close, but no dice. It’s The History of Pugachev54: 52 - “Grinev the Trickster: Reading the Paradoxes of Pushkin’s The Captain’s Daughter” by Polina RikounThe 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

Jun 9, 2023 • 1h 4min
June Break: The Orchard by Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry
Shownotes:Note: This is a re-run of The Orchard by Kristina Gorcheva-NewberryIt’s week 2 of Matt and Cameron’s June break. So this week, we’re looking back at one of our favorite books from this podcast, originally put out in June of 2022.Major themes: The Time Between Dog and Wolf, Re-writing the past, Toasting to art 35:30 - To avoid spoilers, go to 36:4251:59 - The Orchard by Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry (click on the “Buy” button to see a list of places where you can purchase this book)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

Jun 2, 2023 • 1h 33min
June Break: Zuleikha by Guzel Yakhina
Shownotes: Note: This is a re-run of Zuleikha (parts 1 and 2) by Guzel Yakhina.It’s week 1 of Matt and Cameron’s June break. So this week, we’re looking back at one of our favorite books from this podcast, originally put out in April of 2021. Major themes: Forest spirits, Vestigial pagan folklore, and Dekulakization.03:51 - Here’s a link to the article that I heavily cited in this episode: Fear and Belief in the USSR’s “Great Terror”: Response to Arrest, 1935-1939.51:20 - Much of the information in this section is pulled from Lynne Viola’s paper “The Campaign to Eliminate the Kulak as a Class, Winter 1929-1930: A Reevaluation of the Legislation”.53:30 - “The Soviet War Against ‘Fifth Columnists’: The Case Against Chechnya, 1942-4” by Jeffrey Burds. See especially the section “Germany and Japan: Intelligence and Sabotage Networks, 1935-41.” 13:20 - Again pulled from Burds’s article, these are the characteristics of “bandit nations”:borderland elements, with close kinship or ethnic ties to foreign-based emigrationForeign use of those elements for espionage and other seditious acts within the USSRstrong religious traditionssustained by ‘heroic’ historical movement of insurrectionary elementsoperates on hostile terrain that facilitates concealmentThe 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

May 31, 2023 • 28min
Bonus 11 - June Break 2023 + What's Next
Shownotes: Some quick updates before we head into our June break:HERE IS THE LISTENER SURVEY!The music used in this episode, and for the last time in a new release, was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. Please go show them some love and buy their albums if you’re able. Our links: Website | Discord Socials: Instagram | Twitter | FacebookAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

May 26, 2023 • 56min
War and Peace p.14 (Epilogues I & II)
Shownotes:This week, Matt and Cameron actually finish War and Peace by covering both epilogues. Did you want to find out what happened to the characters? Too bad! It’s time for more argumentation about history. Well, okay, there’s a little bit of character wrap-up. But most of it, predictably, is about farming. Just another day with Tolstoy. Major themes: Better History, Questionable Theories, Live Laugh Love Levin00:58 - I meant to say “75 serving” and “120 serving,” which is far less than 100 pounds. Good God, could you imagine, though? 10:18 - An apiologist, apparently. 23:18 - The Machete Order for Star WarsThe 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

May 19, 2023 • 54min
War and Peace p.13 (Book 4, Part 4)
Shownotes:This week, Matt and Cameron finish War and Peace!! Well, minus the epilogue. Tune in to hear about the meeting of old acquaintances, the passing of old friends, and the quiet night at the end of a war. Book 4, Part 4. It’s the end of a true epic, in the most literary sense of the word. Be there or be square. Major themes: PTSD = Cool Dude, Super Friendship, Laws of HistoryThe 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

May 5, 2023 • 56min
War and Peace p.12 (Book 4, Part 3)
Shownotes:This week, Matt and Cameron continue Napoleon’s invasion into Imperial Russia into its final phase: a slow, deadly retreat accompanied by irregular warfare in War & Peace’s Part 3 of Book 4. This is what Cameron studied for a potion of his degree and he is going to make that your problem in this episode. Follow along as we catch up with the youngest Rostov, Petya, as he finally deploys in the theater of war, and also find Pierre turning monastic during a death march. Nothing but good times, so grab your scavenged shoes found along a retreat route and tune in!Major themes: Guerilla Warfare, Spying = Being Mean, A Prosaic Prisoner03:07 - I’d apologize for my Yreka slander, but I’m actually not sorry. 04:20 - I was trying to think of inter-state (between state), intra-state (between a state and a non-state actor in the former’s borders), and extra-state (between a state and a non-state actor outside its borders) warfare.17:42 - Not to say this was a novel introduction of “rules of warfare.” Many places in many times had put similar thought into conducting warfare, but I mean to say this particular period has an outsized place in influencing modern thought. 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


