Uses of the Past and Literary Scandals: Scholarly Knowledge and Historical Drama in the Russian Empire (with Kirill Zubkov and Discussant Victoria Somoff)

Part of the 19v Seminar Series.

In the mid-1860s. Several events happened, which, at first glance, have nothing to do with each other: employees of several universities in the press attacked the Academy of Sciences with crushing criticism, Academician Nikitenko was disappointed in the ability of his colleagues to evaluate a literary work, the famous writer A.K. Tolstoy wrote a tragedy The Death of Ivan the Terrible, but did not receive the literary prize for which he claimed, and his colleague Ostrovsky, who also wrote historical plays, gradually ceased to be a favorite of literary criticism. It would seem that there is no direct connection between these incidents and cannot be. In reality, however, they are united by complex transformations that historical consciousness underwent in the Russian Empire during the era of reforms. These transformations largely determined the change in the status of individual organizations and social institutions, such as the Academy of Sciences, universities, Russian literature and criticism. When analyzing these institutions, a conceptual framework is formed through which one can see how they developed, what was their place in the evolution of the state and the public sphere in the Russian Empire, and what social and political functions they performed. With this approach, the history of literature and the history of scientific knowledge are viewed not as isolated spheres, but as two sides of the same process. what was their place in the evolution of the state and the public sphere in the Russian Empire and what social and political functions they performed. With this approach, the history of literature and the history of scientific knowledge are viewed not as isolated spheres, but as two sides of the same process. what was their place in the evolution of the state and the public sphere in the Russian Empire and what social and political functions they performed. With this approach, the history of literature and the history of scientific knowledge are viewed not as isolated spheres, but as two sides of the same process.