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History and Philosophy of History of Matvey Kagan

History and Philosophy of History of Matvey Kagan

5 March, 2024

Commemorating the 300th Anniversary of the Birth of Immanuel Kant.

История и философия истории Матвея Кагана.

К 300-летию со дня рождения Иммануила Канта

Lecture by Ilya Dvorkin.

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Ilya Dvorkin is a philosopher, researcher of the philosophy of dialogue, the philosophy of Hermann Cohen, Franz Rosenzweig, Mikhail Bakhtin, founder and first rector of St. Petersburg Jewish University.

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edelstein

The Imaginary Jew of Vasily Rozanov

3 March, 2024

Мнимый еврей Василия Розанова

Lecture by Mikhail Edelstein .

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Mikhail Edelstein (1972), PhD in Russian Literature, Senior Researcher at Moscow State University (till October 2022). He wrote on Vasily Rozanov, Holocaust history and memory and anti-Nazi resistance in concentration camps. Edelstein co-authored the books The Economic Activity of the Russian Orthodox Church and Its Shadow Component (2000), Resistance of Soviet POWs in Nazi Concentration Camps and Extermination Centers: History and Memory (2022) and led the editorial team that prepared the multi-volume biographical dictionary Russian Writers: 1800-1917. He was an editor of Lechaim (the leading Jewish magazine in the post-Soviet space) and writes as a political columnist for an independent Russian-language online-edition Vot-Tak.tv.

 

 

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Guest Lecture - Weisskopf, 2024

Blind Spots, Anagrams and Codes in Russian Culture: A Brief Overview

19 February, 2024

Слепые пятна, анаграммы и коды в русской культуре: краткий обзор

Lecture by Michael Weisskopf.

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Michael Weisskopf is the author of the classic 'Gogol's Plot" (1992, 2002), "Vo ves' logos: Mayakovsky's Religion" (1997), "Stalin the Writer" (2001, 2002), "The Veil of Moses: Jews in Russian Romanticism" (2008, English version - Brill, 2012), "A Demiurge in Love: Eros and Metaphysis in Russian Romanticism" (2012), and "Between Walls of Fire: A Book on Isaac Babel" (2017).

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Guest Lecture by Bresler, 2024

Serial Debunking that Reproduces a Myth: On the (Non-)Literary Strategy of Alexander Altshuler

25 January, 2024

Последовательное развенчание, воспроизводящее миф: О (не)литературной стратегии Александра Альтшулера

Lecture by Dmitrii Bresler.

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Последовательное развенчание, воспроизводящее миф: О (не)литературной стратегии Александра Альтшулера by Dmitrii Bresler (the lecture will be given in Russian)

The poet Alexander Altshuler (1938–2014) is recognized by many as a participant in the artistic and literary underground community of the 1960s. He had close connections with the poets of Malaya Sadovaya, particularly with V.  rl, and was acquainted with the artist E. Mikhnov-Voitenko.
His legendary friendship with the poets L. Aronzon and R. Purishinskaya is a notable aspect of the unofficial cultural scene of Leningrad. However, Altshuler’s contributions extend beyond mere imitation and apprenticeship. Working for numerous years in Leningrad and later, after repatriation, in Jerusalem, he developed an original creative method that demands attention and comprehension. Altshuler never viewed poetry as a profession and didn't seek an audience; rather, writing served as a medium for every movement and action, a way of living and experiencing life. He jotted down lines and phrases on scraps, on carbon paper, collecting them later into complete texts. However, he did not exhibit a graphomaniac tendency of “not a day without a line.” Instead, daily writing allowed Altshuler to balance the intensity of poetic expression in favor of conveying meaning. His focus was on overcoming the formal and even grammatical limitations of poetry. His texts inherently carry a parable-like and philosophical nature. Altshuler's strategic arrangement of the free flow of text, utilizing natural caesuras and folds instead of enjambments and rhymes, brings to mind Giorgio Agamben's reflections. Agamben compared the formal boundaries of a poem to the katechon of the Apostle Paul — that which holds back and must eventually be removed. Dmitrii Bresler's presentation will delve into the writing strategy of Alexander Altshuler within the context of the literary process of the late Soviet era.

Dmitrii Bresler is a specialist in the Soviet literary underground of the 1920s-1980s and a former Senior Lecturer at the Department of Philology at the National Research University – Higher School of Economics, St. Petersburg. He has authored several publications on modernist literature of the early Soviet era, the history of reception, and the pragmatics of literary discourse.
 

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Guest Lecture by Sergeeva-Klyatis, 2024

Soviet Military Newspaper “Red Star” (1941-1943) as a Part of Literary Process

21 January, 2024

Lecture by Anna Sergeeva-Klyatis.

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This lecture delves into the historical significance of the newspaper "Red Star" during the Soviet-German War as a platform for the realization of literary aspirations by Soviet writers. Many of these writers initially emerged from modernist associations in the early 1920s, persevered through the challenges of Stalin's terror, and actively participated in the war as military correspondents. The presentation will also concurrently address the "Jewish question" in Soviet literature and social reality.

Anna Sergeeva-Klyatis has been a professor at the Faculty of Journalism of the Lomonosov Moscow State University since 2016 and served as a Department Head since 2020. Her research interests include the History of Russian Literature of the 19th and 20th century, Russian literary Modernism and Avant-garde. Since 2001 her research has focused on early 20th -century Russian literature, especially the poetry of Boris Pasternak. Among her works on the topic are the Complete Works of Pasternak in 11 volumes (Moscow, 2003-2005), a two-volume anthology Pro et contra: Boris Pasternak (St.-Petersburg, 2012-2013) and Pasternak’s Poetry of 1920s in Soviet Journalism and Russian Literary Criticism Abroad (Moscow State University Press, 2013). 
Prof. Sergeeva-Klyatis published more than 100 scholarly articles, most of them in highly rated journals, exploring Russian literature of different historical periods, its personalities, and issues.
 

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Russian-Jewish Press in the Emigration

Russian-Jewish Press in the Emigration

15 January, 2024

The case of "Rassvet" (Berlin-Paris, 1922–34): Internal History and External Context

Lecture by Anna Balestrieri.

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The lecture delves into the outcomes of the lecturer's dissertation, centering on the cultural aspects of the Zionist Revisionist movement and the cultural inclinations of its personalities, transcending their political roles. It challenges the prevalent notion of the party organ "Rassvet" solely as a political platform, demonstrating its multifaceted portrayal of Russian-Jewish life and global occurrences. Employing quantitative, qualitative, and philological analyses, it explores “Rassvet”'s archives, emphasizing its influence on Russian-Jewish culture and its role as a center for the expatriate community. The research places the Russian-Jewish diaspora in the context of the post-October Revolution era, outlining Rassvet's heritage, its decline, and its significance in cultural history.

Anna Balestrieri is a Post-Doctoral Researcher in the Russian and Slavic Studies Department at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her primary research interests encompass Russian and Russian-Jewish literature, comparative literature, humor studies, diaspora studies, memory studies, and communication and media studies. She is also actively engaged in an ERC-funded research project that centers on the construction of values in social media through a comparative analysis of user-generated content. Her publications primarily delve into the history of Russian journalism in emigration and the Russian-Jewish cultural dialogue.
 
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hum week

Humanities Week

31 May, 2023

Are you interested in a bachelor's and master's degree in the humanities?

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Come and get to know the Faculty of Humanities at the best Israeli university in the world.

Online open week from 4 to 8.6.23 between 19:00 and 17:00.

For details and registration: (Full link: https://hujiopen.huji.ac.il/home).

A registered participant will receive an SMS and an email notification.