Russian Irrationalism from Pushkin to Brodsky : Seven Essays in Literature and Thought

Russia, once compared to a giant sphinx, is often considered in the Anglophone world an alien culture, often threatening and always enigmatic. Although recognizably European, Russian culture also has mystical features, including the idiosyncratic phenomenon of Russian irrationalism. Historically, Russian irrationalism has been viewed with caution in the West, where it is often seen as antagonistic to, and subversive of, the rational foundations of Western speculative philosophy. Some of the remarkable achievements of the Russian irrationalist approach, however, especially in the artistic sphere, have been recognized and even admired, though not sufficiently investigated.

Bridging the gap between intellectual cultures, Olga Tabachnikova discusses such fundamental irrationalist themes as language and the linguistic underpinning of culture; the power of illusion in national consciousness; the changing relationship between love and morality; the cultural roots of humour, as well as the relevance of various individual writers and philosophers from Pushkin to Brodsky to the construction of Russian irrationalism.

“Olga Tabachnikova moves gracefully through a huge range of sources and comes up with original insights. An important and enjoyable book.” —Robert Chandler, award-winning translator of Alexander Pushkin, Andrey Platonov and Vasily Grossman, and co-editor of The Penguin Book of Russian Poetry (2015).

“Taking as a premise that for Russians, thinking is both intellectual and spiritual activity, Olga Tabachnikova embarks on a wide ranging study, skillfully navigating between her literary, philosophical and artistic sources, and weaving a nuanced and exhilarating tapestry of Russian encounters with the existential and mundane, humorous and tragic.” —Vladimir Golstein, Associate Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Brown University, USA