Lunch and Learn with Radislav Lapushin, “At the Intersection of Literature, History, and Politics: Chekhov’s ‘Ward No 6.’”

This presentation is part of an ongoing project based on Dr. Radislav Lapushin’s long-time preoccupation with Chekhov. The project, however, is focused not on Chekhov’s works per se but on the life they have taken over the course of time, not just in literary and cultural spheres but also political, sociological, etc. “Ward No 6” is a case in point. Since its publication in 1892, this story has come to symbolize Russian historical experiences in the 20th and even 21st century in their most troublesome and unsettling manifestations. The presentation will follow the history of the story’s reception from Chekhov’s contemporaneous readers to such diverse figures as Lenin, Anna Akhmatova, Solzhenitsyn, and beyond.

Radislav Lapushin is Associate Professor of Russian Language and Literature at UNC – Chapel Hill. He is the author of two books on Chekhov, most recently, “Dew on the Grass”: The Poetics of Inbetweenness in Chekhov. Among his other research interests are poetry of the Soviet period and Russian literature on stage and screen. He has published several books of poetry, including the forthcoming collection Sobach’i stikhi (Dog Poetry).

Boxed lunches from Panera will be provided to registrants. Please RSVP with your lunch order by 5:00 PM on Friday, March 4.