Matters of Humanities
Season 1: History of Islam in Europe
Arabist Maurits Berger talks about the history of the Islam in Europe: going back to the first Muslim who set foot in Europe, and seeing what kind of interactions have taken place between Muslims and Europeans since then.
Season 2: Scandal and Controversy in Russian literature
Senior lecturer Otto Boele examines eight notorious texts in Russian literature, paying particular attention to the commotion that they created.
Matters of Humanities
Scandal and Controversy in Russian literature - Episode 2: The worst novel ever written
Episode two is about “What Is to be done?” by Nikolai Chernyshevsky (1828-1889), published in 1863. Chernyshevsky had no talent for writing but was well aware of it. For him, to write “beautifully” was far less important than putting yourself at the service of truth and building socialism. Despite his lack of literary talent, Chernyshevsky was one of Russia's most productive and influential authors who won the hearts of many left-wing activists with his utopian novel “What Is to Be Done?” in which he describes a radiant future offering complete equality between men and women. The ideological opponent of more talented authors such as Dostoevsky and Turgenev, Chernyshevsky matched them in popularity and soon became an icon of Russia’s revolutionary movement.
Sources used in this episode of "Scandal and Controversy in Russian Literature":
- Paperno, Irina. 1988. Chernyshevsky and the Age of Realism. A Study in the Semiotics of Behavior (Stanford: Stanford University Press).
- Stites, Richard. 1990 [1978]. The Women’s Liberation Movement in Russia. Feminism, Nihilism and Bolshevism, 1860-1930 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).
List of translations used in this episode of "Scandal and Controversy in Russian Literature":
- Chernyshevsky, Nikolai. 2014. What Is To Be Done? Translated by Michael R. Katz (Ithaca/London: Cornell University Press).
All other translations were done by Otto Boele.
© Otto Boele & Electrical Films 2024