8/17/2023 0 Comments Chekhov a visit to friends bookAnd others, from Taganrog, Sumy, Yalta, not to mention Siberia and other parts of Russia, past and future, which were planned but now are sulking in horrified limbo. This goes for some Nice posts still suspended in the air, complete with their photographs and even thoughts, from last summer. Together with them, I cherish hopes for better times, for mercy, reason, and peace.Ĭautionary note: do not expect chronology here, or unity of place–sometimes the entries (along with their author) have to stew. I continue to nurture a deep love and respect for Dostoevsky’s works, and for the writings of my colleagues in Russia and around the world. In making this statement, I am speaking as an individual, not as a representative of any organization. For me, accepting this award from the Russian government would too easily be taken as complicity in these crimes. By doing so, they are doing irreparable harm to the writer’s reputation and trivializing what it is in his works that has reached readers worldwide. Given my respect for the profundity of Dostoevsky’s artistic writings, I am distressed that public figures have quoted from his non-fiction to justify this war. Internally, it has arrested and terrorized brave, thoughtful individuals who have spoken out against the war, driving many of them away from their homeland. Along with the rest of the world, I have watched with horror over the past year as Russia has invaded, brutalized, and tortured its neighbor Ukraine. It is therefore heartbreaking for me to have to decline this honor, which means more to me than words can say. As I have come to realize now more than ever, I am just a small part of the conversation that began with Dostoevsky’s writing and will continue long after all of us are gone. Last year, 2021, was particularly rewarding as we joyfully celebrated the writer’s bicentennial with conferences, lectures, films, exhibitions, and special events in every corner of the globe. In 2019 I was able to travel across Siberia, where many fine scholars and museum professionals welcomed me with generosity and good will. I have also been proud to translate and publish the works of my brilliant Russian colleagues, and to increase awareness of their contributions among literature specialists worldwide. It has been a privilege to teach his writings to generations of students, to discuss with them not just the big questions of ethics, theodicy, faith, reason, and justice that he raises in his works, but also the fine nuances of the language and poetic structure of his writing. It has been rewarding for me to spend my life reading and writing about Dostoevsky. This is a great honor I am profoundly moved and grateful that my Dostoevsky scholarship and service, into which I have poured so much thought and energy over the years, have been recognized in the writer’s homeland. Thank you for notifying me that the Russian Ministry of Culture has awarded me a medal (“The Great Russian Writer F.
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