The history of Russian-language literary studies in exile begins in the 1920s (the first wave of emigration), undergoes new stages in the late 1940s–1950s (the second wave) and in the 1970s–1980s (the third wave), and acquires particular relevance after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The participants of the roundtable represent different generations and waves of emigration and embody different trends in literary studies. How does Russian-language literary studies develop as a discipline and practice in emigration — in isolation from its original cultural environment and the critical mass of writers, readers, and students?
Participants: Grigory Arosev, Evgeny Ermoolin, Yakov Klots, Polina de Moni, Maxim D. Shrayer (organizer and moderator)
Grigory Arosev is a writer, journalist, and author of seven books, including two biographies. He is a finalist for the 2020 Bolshaya Kniga and 2021 Poetry awards. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of the literary magazine Berlin.Berega.
Evgeny Ermolin is a critic, literary scholar, and cultural historian. He taught at Russian universities and worked in the editorial offices of magazines and newspapers. Columnist for Aussiedlerbote.de (Berlin) since 2021. Professor at the Free University (Riga) since 2023.
Yakov Klots is a philologist, literary scholar, and author of publications on literary translation, Gulag prose, tamizdat, and emigration. Klots’s books include Tamizdat. Smuggled Russian Literature in the Cold War. Associate Professor at Hunter College (USA).
Pauline de Mauny is a literary scholar, publisher, and specialist in the history of literature and publishing in the 2023th century in France and Russia. She teaches at the University of Paris-Nanterre. Since XNUMX, she has been the founder of Éditions Tourgueneff (Turgenev Publishing House) in Paris.
Maxim D. Shrayer is a writer, philologist, historian of the Shoah, translator, and author of thirty books in English and Russian, including “Bunin and Nabokov” and “War.” Professor at Boston College (USA).