Reading Sterne in Stalin's Russia

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Date and Time

February 26, 2026
05:00PM - 06:30PM EST

Location

Room S354, CGIS South

1730 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Petr Budrin, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, Queen Mary University
Moderator: Daria Khitrova, Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

This talk discusses the 1920s and 1930s as a critical juncture in the Russian reception of Laurence Sterne, the author of Tristram Shandy and A Sentimental Journey. Drawing on extensive archival research, the book traces how an eighteenth-century Yorkshire writer was read and admired within an increasingly totalitarian society, and places these encounters within their biographical, cultural, and institutional settings. The talk shows how Sterne’s whimsical world—so alien to the Bolshevik vision of society—became, precisely through this incongruity, a revealing lens on early Soviet cultural life. 

Co-sponsored by the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies.

For more information: https://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/events/reading-sterne-stalins-russia

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Accessibility

Harvard University welcomes individuals with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you would like to request accommodations or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact the Slavic Department at 617-495-4065 or slavic@fas.harvard.edu in advance of your participation or visit. Requests for Sign Language interpreters and/or CART providers should be made at least two weeks in advance, if possible. Please note that the university will make every effort to secure services, but that services are subject to availability.