Views from the Other Shore. Essays on Herzen, Chekhov, and Bakhtin by Aileen M. s> Kelly (review)
2001; Maney Publishing; Volume: 79; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/see.2001.0157
ISSN2222-4327
Autores Tópico(s)Eastern European Communism and Reforms
ResumoREVIEWS 321 successfullyshows the strands of continuity across two centuries of Russian literature, chronicling the quest for reifying this unique entity, the positive hero. ThePositive HeroinRussian Literature surelywillremaina standard text,and its reprintingshouldre-establishwide availability. School ofSlavonic andEastEuropean Studies ELIZABETHSKOMP UniversityCollegeLondon Kelly, Aileen M. Viewsfrom theOther Shore. EssaysonHerzen, Chekhov, andBakhtin. Russian Literature and Thought Series. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1999. 260pp. Notes. Index. $20.00. AILEEN KELLY closes her 'Introduction' to this important and exciting book with a quotationfromthe text fromwhich she derivesher own title,Aleksandr Herzen's Fromthe OtherShore:'Outside us everything changes, everything vacillates [... .] We are standing on the edge of a precipice and we see it crumbling.Twilightdescends and no guidingstarappearsin the sky.We shall find no haven but in ourselves.' Kelly continues by adding that 'this is the terrifyingbut liberating prospect offered by Herzen, Chekhov and Bakhtin' (p. I6). Earlier in this same section, she had more directly formulated her primarygoal in the crisplyelegant style which is the hallmarkof her writing: 'The chapters in this book on Herzen, Chekhov, and Bakhtin are intended not merely to demonstrate that Russia and the West can learn from each other's cultures,but also to illustratethe less obvious fact that the alternative Russian Idea can make a significant contribution to current discussions in Europe and North America on the problem of definingfreedom and morality in a postfoundationalistculture'(p. 3). This volume is a very impressive achievement, and has many virtues. Central among these is Kelly's ability to synthesize a mass of material in a lucid and illuminatingmanner, so that all she has to say should be of interest both to the generalistreaderand the specialist,whetherthat be in philosophy, Russian culture or other related disciplines.The 'Introduction:Two Russian Ideas' is perhaps of central importance. The Berdyaevan RussianIdea is brought right up to date, and the collection of interconnected essays is contextualizedin termsof both the historyof Russiaand Russianthought and contemporary debates. (The conclusion returnsto these issues and achieves the daring, if sadly rare, task of taking the discussion out of the groves of academe into the main thoroughfaresof political dispute into real life, if you like, where the three heroes of this work would certainly have wanted them to be.) Those looking to recommend a pithy introductionto the history of Russian thought to their students need look no further.This section also manages another unusual feat: it is passionate about its subject matter, and Kelly's preferencesare clear, but she is at the same time a model ofjudicious objectivity. There then follow five essays on Herzen, plus one each on Chekhov and Bakhtin. Each of the Herzen essays seeks to compare him with a seminal, Westerninfluence; more particularly,Kelly offersa reading of a key text by 322 SEER, 79, 2, 2001 each of the two, Herzen and the influence on him. Some of these points of comparison are standard features of Herzen studies (Schiller and Proudhon, and, perhaps J. S. Mill), while the remaining two are genuine rarities, namely Francis Bacon and Charles Darwin. (The former has two cursory mentions in Malia, for example, while the latter does not appear at all. On a quasipatriotic note, it is pleasing to see English thinkers so prominently featured, alongside their more familiar continental counterparts). En passant, Kelly offersrichintroductionsto each of thefivemen andtheirkeyworks.Moreover, although this is not an explicitly stated strategy, she also gives us a kind of covert intellectualbiography of her main subject.To be sure, some, perhaps many of her insights into Herzen are not original as such, but the new light shed on his thinking,especiallyin the comparisonof OntheOrigin ofSpecies and From theOther Shore, presents this seminal Russian thinkerfrom strikinglynew perspectives.Above all, his place in European thought emerges in especially sharpfocus.The essayson Chekhovand Bakhtinarerathermore general,but do stand,asthe overallIntroductiondoes, asgood surveysof the subject,while also definitelytyingthe two latermen's ethical thinkingto that of Herzen. There are some minor weaknesses, most notably of a structural kind. Although again not explicitly declared, Kelly's assumption seems to be that herbook will not be read as a whole, but as separateessays,and maybe it will. This apparenttactic has led, however, to a certain amount of...
Referência(s)