Image and theme of the war in Tolstoy's “Sevastopol Stories”
In the military stories (“Raid”, “Forest Cutting”, “Sevastopol in December 1854, in May and August 1855”) Tolstoy dwells on the question of how legitimate war, demanding so many bloody victims,…

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strip tease
"The Tale" by Abraham Palitsyna
The famous figure of the Time of Troubles, Avraham Palitsyn, described the circumstances of protection from the Polish troops of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and his personal exploits in a work…

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Homeric epic
Epic means nothing more than a word about exploits (in Greek “epic” - “word”), songs that were performed by wandering singers. To the accompaniment of the lyre, they were sung…

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referent in fact

“The Brothers Karamazov”

Dostoevsky writes not a philosophical treatise or a theological system, he writes a novel. Religious-philosophical material is introduced into the framework of the romantic genre and is developed according to its laws. A tense-dramatic plot is being built, in the center of which stands a mysterious crime; ideological masses are involved in a whirlwind of action and, colliding, cause spectacular explosions. In The Brothers Karamazov, the religious mystery is paradoxically combined with a criminal novel. For all its philosophical depth, it is one of the most fascinating and popular works of Russian literature. Continue reading

BORIS GROYS “POLITICS OF POETICS”

Today, the philosopher, theorist of art and curator Boris Groys is one of the most respected critics in the world art community. His recent book, The Politics of Poetics, is a collection of essays from two English-language books, Art Power and Going Public, as well as articles published in American and European journals. Some texts of the book are published in Russian for the first time. Groys is important to read to those who want to familiarize themselves with the contemporary philosophical discourse of modern art: at the same time it turns out that it is relatively easy to write about the complex. One of the main themes of the collection is the relationship of art to the art market and to the sphere of political ideologies. Continue reading

Pop Art and Literature

I do not like to talk about art, its impact on society and all that. I do not like, does not mean condemn such reflections. Well, you know how often it is customary to think and talk, saying that such inventions are the lot of homosexuals-aesthetes, all art was fucked up by bare asses, only the old school, only Leo Tolstoy.
Simply, in my opinion, I lack the knowledge and experience to feel my own in this area. Continue reading

“European Herald” - Karamzin magazine
Creativity Karamzin in the years of the reign of Alexander I is of considerable interest. A sentimentalist writer, an individualist, essentially his temperament, who was first interested in mainly his…

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Beaumarchais The Marriage of Figaro
Exceptional success fell on the second part of the Beaumarchais comedy trilogy - “Mad Day, or the Marriage of Figaro”. (For the first part - see “The Barber of Seville”…

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