Orest Vereiskii. Illustration to the novel Anna Karenina (1975)
Join us on October 15 at 12:30 pm Pacific Time for another online Sawchen Lecture. Focusing on the theme of ‘dissent’, CENES welcomes Dr. Elena Baraban from the University of Manitoba.
Title: Why Did Anna Go to the Opera? The Question of Authenticity in Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina
Abstract: Many interpreters commend Leo Tolstoy for substantiating feminist positions in Anna Karenina. The critics argue that, despite his intentions to depict Anna negatively, Tolstoy has created an admirable heroine who challenges 19th-century social norms. Anna is thus to be admired for her moral integrity, as she leaves her husband to live openly with her lover in order to be true to herself. In this paper, Baraban argues the opposite: Anna’s affair leads to the loss of her self-acceptance and authenticity. An analysis of key scenes and narrative techniques reveals that Tolstoy’s title character both plays a role of an ill-fated adulterous woman and acts like a theatre director in relation to other characters. Whereas in Joe Wright’s 2012 screen adaptation of Anna Karenina theatricality is used to blame society for Anna’s demise, in the narrative by Tolstoy, the motifs of role-playing and theatre help to contrast authentic and inauthentic characters, underscoring the heroes’ responsibility for their actions.
About the Speaker
Elena Baraban is Professor of Russian Studies and Coordinator of Central and East European Studies at the University of Manitoba. Her publications include The Akunin Project: The Mysteries and Histories of Russia’s Best-Selling Author (U Toronto Press, 2021), co-edited together with Stephen M. Norris; Fighting Words and Images: Representing War across the Disciplines (UTP, 2012), co-edited together with Stephan Jaeger and Adam Muller; articles on literature and cinema, especially on representations of Ukraine, the Civil War, and WWII. Baraban has published in Ab Imperio, Ukraina Moderna, Slavic and East European Studies Journal, Canadian Slavonic Papers, and other peer-reviewed journals.
How to Attend
This lecture will be hosted online over Zoom on October 15 at 12:30pm Pacific Time. Please register here in advance for this meeting.
