The Slavic Literature Pod

The Slavic Literature Pod

The Slavic Literature Pod is your guide to one of the most important—yet understudied—literary traditions. Every episode, Russian literature PhD Candidate Matt Gerasimovich and Personable Audio Expert Cameron Lallana dive deep into big books, short stories, film, and everything in between. You’ll get an approachable introduction to the scholarship and big ideas surrounding this canon three Fridays per month.

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The Tears & Smiles of Things by Sodomora (w/ translators Dr. Roman Ivashkiv and Sabrina Jaszi)
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The Tears & Smiles of Things by Sodomora (w/ translators Dr. Roman Ivashkiv and Sabrina Jaszi)
Show Notes:This week, Matt and Cameron dive into Andriy Sodomora’s short story collection The Tears & Smiles of Things with the help of its translators Roman Ivashkiv and Sabrina Jaszi. The collection draws together Sodomora’s reflections on life, ancient texts, and the difficulties of translation. The book holds the subtitle “Stories, Sketches, Meditations.” It’s never easy to tell which is which — if indeed a clear delineation can be made at all — but Jaszi and Ivashkiv do their best to help the pair untangle it. Roman Ivashkiv teaches Slavic languages, literatures, and cultures at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. His research interests include translation, comparative literature, and language pedagogy. Currently, he is writing a monograph on transmesis (i.e., fictional representation of translation and translators) in contemporary Ukrainian literature and film. Sabrina Jaszi is a translator of Uzbek, Russophone, and Ukrainian literature based in Oakland, CA. She is a co-founder of the Turkoslavia translation collective and journal, both dedicated to Turkic and Slavic literature in translation. Currently, she is writing a dissertation on modern Central Asian literature at UC Berkeley. Major themes: Reading antiquity, Tears and smiles, Translating translatorsWe have included links where you can purchase a copy of The Tears & Smiles of Things later in these notes. 25:02 - “Andriy Sodomora: “There are two paths that a translator can choose before their journey into the world of foreign languages: The first, long and difficult, will lead to the author, the other, shorter one, - leads to the reader, who seeks instant enjoyment.” by Bogdana Romantsova 25:40 - *Room without a Shadow, excuse me01:09:30 - The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy01:09:38 - Timothy Snyder’s history of Ukraine Yale courses on Youtube01:10:02 - Victoria Amelina, whose book Women Looking at War: A War and Justice Diary is set to be published in February 2025. 01:10:12 - The publication section of Harvard’s Ukrainian Research Institute.01:10:15 - Lost Horse Press01:11:22 - Stanislav Aseyev’s In Isolation: Dispatches from the Occupied Donbas01:12:10 - There isn’t a lot on Sukhbat Aflatuni, but here’s a review of one of his novels by translator Lisa Hayden. The music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | FacebookQuestions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Office Hours - Enrolling in Jordan Peterson Academy
20-09-2024
Office Hours - Enrolling in Jordan Peterson Academy
Show Notes:This week, Matt and Cameron talk Paul Lynch’s Prophet Song, dropping the nuclear bomb (a timely conversation), and torturing your roommates by cooking cabbage. They’ll also be getting into a topic that everyone has been dying to know more about: Jordan Peterson Academy. Well…maybe not, no one has asked us about it, but Cameron is dying to know how they got his email. Get read to get real anti-intellectual and tune in! Major themes: Lackluster dystopias, Cabbage torture, Jordan Peterson Academy6:45 - It Can’t Happen Here is indeed authored by Sinclair Lewis.41:42 - Politely and calmly discussing 198443:07 - Actually, his Master’s was in medical botany, but his PhD was in nutritional ethnomedicine.50:06 - “Controversial professor Jordan Peterson retires from tenured position at U of T” by Lauren Alexander, Tahmeed Shafiq1:03:42 “Churchill’s policies to blame for millions of Indian famine deaths, study says” by Bard WilkinsonThe music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠!Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | FacebookQuestions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz
13-09-2024
The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz
Show Notes:This week, Matt and Cameron are down with the sickness of Schulzomania, covering parts of the short story collection “The Street of Crocodiles” by Polish-Jewish literary superstar Bruno Schulz. They’ll be talking about “Visitation,” “Tailor’s Dummies,” and the eponymous “The Street of Crocodiles,” delving deep into Schulz’s surreal vision of his family and city. Order versus chaos, taking the formation of matter into our own hands, seductive tickling — we’ve got it all here! Get ready for it to get real confusing. Major themes: Torturing matter, Doomed eroticism, Unfinished modernity01:51 - 1973, not later ‘70s. “The Hourglass Sanatorium.”07:37 - “The Battle Over Bruno Schulz’s Final Works” by Adam Kirsch30:42 - “Thinking about Absurdity with Bruno Schulz: Paradox and Potential” by Shlomit Gorin51:27 - “Bruno Schulz and Seductive Discourse” by Jerzy Jarzębski57:31 - “Are Crocodiles Flawless? The Reptiles Haven’t Changed in 200 Million Years” by Elizabeth Gamillo but counterpoint: “Modern Crocodiles Are Evolving at a Rapid Rate” by Riley BlackThe music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | FacebookQuestions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
August Break - The Czech Manuscripts (w/ author Dr. David L. Cooper)
16-08-2024
August Break - The Czech Manuscripts (w/ author Dr. David L. Cooper)
Note: This episode originally aired in February 2024. Matt and Cameron are taking a much needed break this August and wanted to re-up some mid-series Life and Fate episodes they thought deserved more attention.Pick up a copy of The Czech Manuscripts here.Show Notes:This week, Matt and Cameron are joined by Professor David L. Cooper to talk about his new book The Czech Manuscripts: Forgery, Translation, and National Myth. In the book, Dr. Cooper takes a new look at the so-called Czech Manuscripts — several forged literary works that played a large role in 19th Century Czech national identity-building — using several approaches to tackle what trends shaped them and how they were treated in turn. David L. Cooper is Associate Professor and Head of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. A specialist in Czech and Russian literatures, his research is in the areas of nationalism in literature, forgery and mystification, translation history and translation studies, and history of criticism. David has published translations of Slovak folktales and a critical edition of the poems of the Czech 19th-century forged manuscripts, The Queen’s Court and Green Mountain Manuscripts with Other Forgeries of the Czech Revival (Ann Arbor, 2018).Major themes: National identity, forgery or fiction, more medieval poetryThe music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | FacebookQuestions, comments, want to hear your voice on a bonus episode? Send us an email at slaviclitpod@gmail.com or call our voicemail at 209.800.3944Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
August Break -  Ochre & Rust by Gandlevsky (w/translator Philip J. Metres)
09-08-2024
August Break - Ochre & Rust by Gandlevsky (w/translator Philip J. Metres)
Note: This episode originally aired in January 2024. Matt and Cameron are taking a much needed break this August and wanted to re-up some mid-series Life and Fate episodes they thought deserved more attention.Pick up a copy of Ochre & Rust from Green Linden Press’ website.Show Notes:This week, Matt and Cameron tackle some of the work of Sergey Gandlevsky, translated by Philip J. Metres and collected in Ochre & Rust. Tune in to hear more about one of Russia’s most celebrated modern poets, self-described outsider who drifted around the edges of the USSR (and, later, the Russian Federation) and cataloged his thoughts and experiences in his poems. Philip Metres is a poet, scholar, translator, essayist, and peacebuilder. He is the author of twelve books, including Fugitive/Refuge (2024), Ochre & Rust: New Selected Poems of Sergey Gandlevsky (2023), Shrapnel Maps (2020), The Sound of Listening: Poetry as Refuge and Resistance (2018), and Sand Opera (2015). His work has garnered fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Lannan Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ohio Arts Council, and the Watson Foundation. He has been awarded the Adrienne Rich Award, three Arab American Book Awards, the Cleveland Arts Prize, and the Hunt Prize. Philip has been called “one of the essential poets of our time,” whose work is “beautiful, powerful, magnetically original.” He is professor of English and director of the Peace, Justice, and Human Rights program at John Carroll University. He is also Core Faculty at Vermont College of Fine Arts.  You can find more from Philip on his website and see some other links he’s shared on his linktree. Major themes: Prodigious drinking, After the USSR’s dissolution, Andrei Bolkonsky returnsThe music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | FacebookAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
August Break - Work Flows: Stalinist Liquids in Russian Labor Culture (w/ author Dr. Maya Vinokour)
02-08-2024
August Break - Work Flows: Stalinist Liquids in Russian Labor Culture (w/ author Dr. Maya Vinokour)
Note: This episode originally aired in April 2024. Matt and Cameron are taking a much needed break this August and wanted to re-up some mid-series Life and Fate episodes they thought deserved more attention.You can pick up a copy of Dr. Maya Vinokour’s book Work Flows: Stalinist Liquids in Russian Labor Culture here. Show Notes:This week, Matt and Cameron sit down with Dr. Maya Vinokour to talk about her book Work Flows: Stalinist Liquids in Russian Labor Culture and touch on Daniil Kharms’ short story “How the Old Woman Tried to Buy Ink.” Dr. Vinokour is Assistant Professor in the Department of Russian & Slavic Studies at New York University and the author of Work Flows: Stalinist Liquids in Russian Labor Culture. Her interests include Stalinism and Nazism, late-Soviet science fiction, post-Soviet media, and the global Far Right. She recently published an article in Jacobin on a phenomenon she calls "lifestyle fascism."Major themes: Flow, cosmic symbology, energy reserves39:45 - “How the Old Woman Tried to Buy Ink” by Daniil KharmsThe music used in this episode was “Старое Кино / Staroye Kino,” by Перемотка / Peremotka. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. Our links: Website | ⁠Discord⁠ Socials: Instagram⁠ | BlueSky | Twitter⁠ | FacebookAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands