http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/russian-literature Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Mon, 01 Jun 2026 18:41:20 -0400 Mon, 01 Jun 2026 18:41:20 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1896/ethnography-folklore-afanasev-and-russian-self-identity By Margaret R. Devlin - While the history of ethnography in Russia dates back to the Kievan Rus era, modern ethnographic production in Russia developed in the 17th century and expanded during the late 18th and early 19th centuries as interest in folktales and in the lives and natures of Russian peasants exploded amongst the Russian elite. This paper briefly explores the history of Russian ethnography before examining the Russian concepts of narod (народ, the people) and narodnost (народность, the Russian soul). This work examines the folklore collections of Alexander Afanasev and his process of editing... Thu, 08 Apr 2021 03:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1896/ethnography-folklore-afanasev-and-russian-self-identity http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1750/the-versipel-charles-kinbote-in-vladimir-nabokovs-pale-fire By Brenda S. Tolian - Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov is a masterpiece of literature that seems to transform into a remarkably personal experience for anyone who approaches the text. The book reads in many ways like a game full of mysteries and innuendos and has in its postmodern approach no discernible rules. One can begin as usual, or dive into the index or immerse themselves in the cantos first. Our expectations of what text should do and how someone should act can become shattered by this book that refuses to behave. Almost at once one has this queer feeling that they are a witness to the manipulations of Charles... Wed, 09 Jan 2019 09:24 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1750/the-versipel-charles-kinbote-in-vladimir-nabokovs-pale-fire http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/930/the-power-of-the-happy-family-in-tolstoys-anna-karenina By Jessica N. Laird - Although the novel is mainly about unhappy families, Tolstoy makes the story of the one happy family, Ekaterina Scherbatsky (Kitty) and Konstantin Levin (Kostya), just as interesting as the others. Although every other relationship seems to tear apart its members, Kitty and Kostya stand out because their love makes them stronger. Nikolai Levin, Kostya’s brother, has the primary importance of illustrating how their relationship allows them to cope with issues that they cannot deal with on their own. We see the very qualities that make them unable to handle his illness by themselves turned... Mon, 27 Oct 2014 08:44 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/930/the-power-of-the-happy-family-in-tolstoys-anna-karenina http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/529/gender-and-power-in-vladimir-nabokovs-lolita By Tristan Gans - In Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, the overriding force of the narrator, Humbert Humbert, is his need to prove himself master of everything: other people, his own desires, fate, and language itself. Time and time again through Lolita we see Humbert’s most extreme actions and emotions not as a result of his physical desires but rather his psychological need to win, to possess, and to control. Gender relations are quite simple for him: women are to be possessed, and men should compete for the possession of women. At times Humbert competes to prove his superiority in other ways, for instance tricking... Wed, 18 May 2011 08:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/529/gender-and-power-in-vladimir-nabokovs-lolita http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/374/the-1905-russian-revolution-through-the-eyes-of-vladimir-nabokov-in-speak-memory By Iulia O. Basu-Zharku - Many of the causes that determined the 1905 Russian Revolution are presented in Nabokov’s novel. One of these is industrialization, which occurred at a rapid pace: “In the early years of this century, a travel agency on Nevski Avenue displayed a three-foot-long model of an oak-brown international sleeping car.... One could make out the blue upholstery inside, the embossed leather lining of the compartment walls, their polished panels, inset mirrors, tulip-shaped reading lamps, and other maddening details. Spacious windows alternated with narrower ones... and some of these were of frosted... Wed, 26 Jan 2011 10:01 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/374/the-1905-russian-revolution-through-the-eyes-of-vladimir-nabokov-in-speak-memory http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/219/ivans-transformation-and-coming-to-terms-in-leo-tolstoys-the-death-of-ivan-illyich By Michael C. Wiseman - In Leo Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Illyich, the story's protagonist--Ivan--is dead before the story begins. The first chapter concerns itself with some of Ivan’s work associates. With the exception of a posthumous cameo, Tolstoy completely omits the title character from the first chapter. He does this to show that Ivan was shaped by the flaws of his society. By displaying Ivan’s friends at a significant time, Tolstoy shows us what Ivan’s society was like, and vicariously shows the readers what kind of man Ivan was. In short, Ivan lived as a vicious bureaucrat: living life to... Tue, 30 Mar 2010 09:51 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/219/ivans-transformation-and-coming-to-terms-in-leo-tolstoys-the-death-of-ivan-illyich http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/169/mikhail-bulgakov-and-antun-gustav-matos-two-authors-and-periods-collide By Alessandro Seren Rosso - The death theme, deeply analyzed in both narrations, is thus developed differently. The love theme presents fewer differences, even if Bulgakov draws more of a romantic story, while Matos’style is more symbolist. If love between the Master and Margarita is “true, faithful, eternal”, Kamenski’s love toward her female partner is a forbidden love, unfaithful, as the lady is married to another man. It is a love that can only end up in a tragedy, as it will promptly happen at the story's end. The woman is seen as a symbolist poetry’s symbol, a non-present detail in Bulgakov... Tue, 16 Feb 2010 09:24 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/169/mikhail-bulgakov-and-antun-gustav-matos-two-authors-and-periods-collide