Mark Lipovetsky: Why do we like Soviet tricksters (and hate post-Soviet)?

Globus Books is honored and excited to invite you to Mark Lipovetsky's talk about Soviet tricksters.
Mark Lipovetsky has been studying Soviet tricksters for a long time and is preparing a new book on this subject. His main thesis is that Soviet trickster narratives served as the main source for a distinctive type of Soviet subjectivity – a Soviet cynic – which was an alternative to the normative ideological subjectivity.

Not only Ostap Bender but also Benya Krik, Julio Jurenito, Ivan Babichev, Buratino, Venichka (Moskva-Petushki), Nikolai Nikolaevich, and Sandro of Chegem, among many other characters
of Soviet literature and film represent a cultural trope of the trickster. In Soviet culture, it enjoys incredible popularity, which suggests the special importance of this type.

Mark Lipovetsky is a Professor at the Department of Slavic Languages, Columbia University (New York, USA). He is the author of ten books and editor/co-editor of twenty volumes on 20th-21st Russian literature and culture. He is mostly known for his works on Russian postmodernism,
New Russian drama, the trickster in Soviet culture, and Dmitry Prigov. Lipovetsky is also one of four co-authors of the Oxford History of Russian Literature (2018). Winner of AATSEEL award for the outstanding contribution to scholarship (2014) and Andrei Bely Prize for his input to Russian literature (2019).

Globus Books is an independent bookstore serving San Francisco since 1971. It offers a wide-ranging stock of books on all things Russia. Globus is actively working with the libraries across the states on completing their holdings for Russian publications, both contemporary and out-of-print. The Globus Books team is well-known for its expertise in first editions of Russian literature, books on the Russian avant-garde, early imprints, and travel and voyage books. Under the new management, Globus strives to serve the Bay Area, bridging gaps, continuing cultural traditions, and giving voice to unrepresented communities in Russia and the US. Globus Books features several series of literary and cultural events on its YouTube Channel (   / globusbookssf  , including Literary Translation Round Table, History/Anthropology, Playtime and Storytime for children, and more.

This program is produced and hosted by Zarina Zabrisky, the author of three short story collections and a novel "We, Monsters" (Numina Press). Zabrisky's work appeared in nine countries in over fifty literary magazines and anthologies, including The Nervous Breakdown, A Capella Zoo, Eleven Eleven, The Rumpus, Guernica, and received nominations and awards. Zabrisky runs literary and cultural programs at Globus Books.