The Midwest Slavic Association and CSEES invite you to attend the virtual keynote address for the 2021 Midwest Slavic Conference. Dr. Yvonne Howell, (U. of Richmond) will deliver this year's keynote address which will be followed by time for Q&A.
“The Geography of Joy: Alex Dubas, Voices of Russian Happiness, and the Art of Translation”
Dr. Yvonne Howell, (U. of Richmond)
It’s a cliché that the word “happiness” is not what springs to mind when one delves into Russian literature and culture. Yet, Alex Dubas (Latvian-Russian journalist and performer; host of Silver Rain radio in Moscow) hit a resonant chord with his recent book of first-person accounts of Moments of Happiness (Momenty schast’ia, ACT, 2016). The book has already been reissued several times, and it thrives as a performance piece in theaters as well. In this unusually happy (but actually rather serious) presentation, I will argue that Dubas’ documentary prose, while paradoxically similar to Svetlana Alexievich’s fiction/non-fiction, functions as an inquiry into what it means to be an urban, educated post-Soviet citizen in Russia today: primarily by trying on modes and definitions of “happiness” that one is not ashamed of, that one can aspire to, and that help one make sense of competing narratives about Russian national identity. Along the way, we will also revisit Jakobson’s characterization of “metaphorical” and “metonymic” axes of communication to illuminate the ways in which Moments of Happiness can work as either an emotionally evocative text, or as a unprecedented ethnographic text.
Full details: https://u.osu.edu/mwsc2021/special-events/
If you have any questions about accessibility or wish to request accommodations, please contact us at csees@osu.edu. Typically, a two weeks' notice will allow us to provide access.
