An essay by our colleague Csilla Fedinec in Jelen.

Few European literatures have attempted not only to depict their own countries, but also to conceptualize them. From the 19th century onwards, Russian literature did not simply reflect Russia: it became a platform for interpreting existence, historical vocation, and national self-image. The works not only attempted to understand the country, but also—often unknowingly—created and then destroyed the ideological foundations of the country's self-image. Meanwhile, foreign critics observed this peculiar duality with a mixture of fascination and alarm: how Russians saw themselves, and how their writers tried to justify and then expose this view.