Category Archives: Reading Group

Literary responses, Network News, Reading Group

Re-scheduled ONLINE EVENT: Dr Katherine Bowers on ‘Ghost Writing: Radcliffiana and the Russian Gothic Wave’

Dr Katherine Bowers on ‘Ghost Writing: Radcliffiana and the Russian Gothic Wave’

This talk will discuss the phenomenon of Radcliffiana in the context of early nineteenth-century Russian literary culture. English gothic novelist Ann Radcliffe’s writing was extremely popular in Russia. Indeed, so popular that books by other authors were frequently attributed to her and translators found it more expedient to write new gothic novels under Radcliffe’s name than to translate existing ones. The talk will give an overview of Russian Radcliffiana and its influence on readers and writers in nineteenth-century Russia. What was more influential, Radcliffe or the bevy of ghost-written and mis-attributed works that bear her name? How did Russian critics react to women novelists? And how did this Radcliffiana shape Russian literature of the nineteenth century for decades after Radcliffe’s final work? In addressing these questions, the talk will examine the curious phenomenon of transnational and transcultural literary ghostwriting and its role in creating Radcliffe’s Russian identity.

Dr Katherine Bowers is Associate Professor of Slavic Studies at the University of British Columbia. She is an expert in Russian literature and culture, whose research interests include genre, narrative, and imagined geography. Her first monograph, Writing Fear: Russian Realism and the Gothic, is forthcoming with University of Toronto Press.

Tuesday 25 May 2021, on Zoom, 6pm GMT.

As before, signups are handled on Eventbrite, and are free.

Literary responses, Network News, Reading Group

ONLINE EVENT: Dr Katherine Bowers on ‘Ghost Writing: Radcliffiana and the Russian Gothic Wave’

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This talk will discuss the phenomenon of Radcliffiana in the context of early nineteenth-century Russian literary culture. English gothic novelist Ann Radcliffe’s writing was extremely popular in Russia. Indeed, so popular that books by other authors were frequently attributed to her and translators found it more expedient to write new gothic novels under Radcliffe’s name than to translate existing ones. The talk will give an overview of Russian Radcliffiana and its influence on readers and writers in nineteenth-century Russia. What was more influential, Radcliffe or the bevy of ghost-written and mis-attributed works that bear her name? How did Russian critics react to women novelists? And how did this Radcliffiana shape Russian literature of the nineteenth century for decades after Radcliffe’s final work? In addressing these questions, the talk will examine the curious phenomenon of transnational and transcultural literary ghostwriting and its role in creating Radcliffe’s Russian identity.

Dr Katherine Bowers is Associate Professor of Slavic Studies at the University of British Columbia. She is an expert in Russian literature and culture, whose research interests include genre, narrative, and imagined geography. Her first monograph, Writing Fear: Russian Realism and the Gothic, is forthcoming with University of Toronto Press.

4 May 2021, on Zoom, 6pm GMT.

Signups are managed via Eventbrite, here:

Register on Eventbrite
Network News, Reading Group

1 April 2021 – Katya Rogatchevskaia on ‘Anglo-Russian Social Networks in the Early 20th Century’

In the first ARRN event of 2021, Dr Katya Rogatchevskaia talks about Anglo-Russian social networks in the early 20th century.

This reading group will focus on Russian emigre academics in Britain, and Anglo-Russian social networks more broadly, at the turn of the 20th century. It takes the form of a thought experiment (i.e. who would have come to ARRN meetings had they existed one hundred years ago) with a view to rethinking the contours of Anglo-Russian studies and examining potential new research avenues for the field.

Dr Katya Rogatchevskaia is Lead Curator, East European Collections at the British Library. She joined the BL in 2003. Previously she had taught various courses related to Russian literature, language and culture at Russian State University for Humanities (Moscow), Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities, and had worked as a research fellow at the Institute of World Literature (Moscow). From 2006 to 2013 she was review editor, Solanus: International Journal for Russian and East European Bibliographic, Library and Publishing Studies. She was also associate editor of ‘The Book in the Slavonic and the East European World’ for Oxford Companion for the Book, ed. by Michael Suarez and HW Woudhuysen (OUP, 2010), and from 2011, chair of COSEELIS (Council for Slavonic and East European Library and Information Services).

6pm on Zoom.

You can sign-up for this event below, or here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/katya-rogatchevskaia-the-anglo-russian-research-network-100-years-ago-tickets-146024060897

Register on Eventbrite
Network News, Reading Group

Spring 2021 events

The Anglo-Russian Research Network is pleased to announce events for Spring 2021. We have three sessions lined up in April and May, with more to come later in the year.

1 April – Katya Rogatchevskaia – ‘The ARRN 100 years ago: Anglo-Russian academic and social networks in the early 20th century’ (reading group/discussion)

22 April – Bob Henderson – ‘The Little Russian Island: Lenin in London’ (guest lecture)

4 May – Katherine Bowers – ‘Ghost Writing: Radcliffiana and the Russian Gothic Wave’ (seminar)

We will circulate more details about each of these events in due course. These events will be held online.