Academic

A Literary Experiment in Autobiographical Fiction

Foreword: Here follows a short paper I wrote for my Tolstoy professor after we studied Tolstoy’s Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth. The task was to write an autobiographical account from a time in our childhood, and afterward to analyse the process we went through to write it, in order to better understand Tolstoy’s Childhood, Boyhood, andContinue reading “A Literary Experiment in Autobiographical Fiction”

A Winding Garden Toward Enlightenment or Despair: How Anna Karenina Cultivates the Mind, Bears Relevance, and Leads to Existential Crises

Foreword: Here follows a short paper I wrote for a university class on Tolstoy which attempted to answer the question: Is 150-year-old literature such as Tolstoy’s still relevant to a contemporary reader’s every-day life, and if so, how? I have edited it some, and have removed all major spoilers of the novel Anna Karenina, butContinue reading “A Winding Garden Toward Enlightenment or Despair: How Anna Karenina Cultivates the Mind, Bears Relevance, and Leads to Existential Crises”

Sweat and Blood to Save One’s Soul: The Principles of Work and Suffering in Čapek’s RUR

‘O Adam, Adam! No longer will you have to earn your bread by the sweat of your brow; you will return to Paradise, where you were nourished by the hand of God. You will be free and supreme; you will have no other task, no other work, no other cares than to perfect your being.Continue reading “Sweat and Blood to Save One’s Soul: The Principles of Work and Suffering in Čapek’s RUR”

Fitting Anna Karenina into a New Dress: Adaptation and Cinematic Technique in Anna Karenina (2012)

Foreword: Here follows a term paper I wrote last semester for my university class under Tolstoy scholar Ani Kokobobo, PhD. This should be of interest if you have read Anna Karenina, or seen the 2012 film adaptation (Keira Knightley), or both. I discuss not only the works themselves but the nature of adapting a bookContinue reading “Fitting Anna Karenina into a New Dress: Adaptation and Cinematic Technique in Anna Karenina (2012)”