Olga Breininger-Umetayeva
PhD, May 2019
Olga Breininger-Umertayeva is an “enchanted wanderer” trapped in the endless gaps of discourses and narrative closures. Her research interests lie where culture intersects with politics, anthropology, history, and religion.
Provisional Dissertation Title:
«Wonderland, Terrorland, Sonderland: Northern Caucasus as Liminal Timespace».
Education:
M.Phil. In Modern Languages (Russian & German), University of Oxford (distinction)
B.A. in Literature and Creative Writing, Gorky Literary Institute (summa cum laude)
Research Interests:
- Post-Soviet literature and culture;
- Northern Caucasus;
- Postcolonial studies vs. world-system analysis;
- Nationalism, nation-building and identity politics;
- Islam;
- Revolutions, protest movements;
- Terrorism and counter-terrorism;
- Energy politics and ethics;
- Middle Eastern studies;
- Emigration, exile and diasporas;
- Russian-American relationships.
Publications:
- "A scholarly look at 'thick' journals today: the crisis of the institution" in Russian Journal of Communication, 2014, No 1.
- "Deconstructing National Identity: a Case Study of the Russian Diaspora in Contemporary Germany" in НЛО, 2014, No. 127.
- "Mapping Macro- and Microchanges in Contemporary Slavic Studies: the Polemics over the 'Anthropological Turn" in 'Novoye Literaturnoye Obozreniye'in НЛО, 2013, No. 122.
- Этот смутный объект желания (в повелительном наклонении) in НЛО, 2013, No. 122.
- "Post-Colonialism in the Post-Soviet Space: Converging Literature and Ideology"
- "Banderlogs’ and ‘Network Hamsters’: the Language of Political Protest in Russia" on openDemocracy Russian, 2013
- Сквозь два десятилетия постсоветской литературы: Лина Данэм, предсказуемый постмодернизм, и Марта Кетро в рядах несуществующей русской беллетристики in Лиterraтура, 2015, No. 51.
- Суровое барокко: Новый исторический роман. О романах Захара Прилепина и Зулейхи Яхиной in Лиterraтура. 2015. No. 63.
Awards
- Long-listed for ‘Debut’ Literary Prize for the novel ‘There was no Adderall in the Soviet Union’, 2015;
- Priscilla McMillan Graduate Research Travel Grant (for fieldwork in Chechnya, - North Ossetia and Georgia), Davis Centre at Harvard University, 2015;
- Maurice Lazarus Travel Grant (for fieldwork in Dagestan and Chechnya), Davis Centre at Harvard University, 2014;
- Setchkarev Memorial Prize for best graduate essay, Harvard University, 2014;
- Alumni Award, Brasenose College, University of Oxford, 2013;
- Merle Fainsod Prize, Davis Centre for Russian and Eurasian Studies, 2013;
- Research Grant, Brasenose College, University of Oxford, 2012;
- Participant of XI and XII Lipki Forums of Young Writers, 2011, 2012;
- Member of the Union of Writers of Russia since 2010;
- Winner of A. Filimonov's Literary Prize (for the long short story ‘Prizma’), 2009.
Resources
Page in «Журнальный зал»: http://magazines.russ.ru/authors/b/brejninger/
Project ‘The Caucasus Calling | for a revision’: http://thecaucasuscalling.com
Project ‘Pechorin’s Women’ www.pechorinswomen.com