Modern Languages Commons^™

Inherently Russian And Inherently Roman: Tolstoy’S Miniature Masterpiece “Alyosha The Pot”, Radha Balasubramanian, Thomas Nelson Winter

Russian Language and Literature Papers

Leo Tolstoy’s short story, "Alyosha the Pot" is considered a masterpiece in miniature, which “completely fulfills Tolstoy’s prescription of ‘universal art.”1 In order to explain this universal appeal, we looked closely at its structure and found that there was a paradox in the way it was laid out: i.e., while the story was inherently Russian, it read as inherently Roman! This fusion of two great literary traditions becomes apparent in our article by examining the story within some of its Russian literary convention and showing the existence and use of Roman patterns in the chain of events. For the most …

Leo Tolstoy From 1901–2010 In Two Leading English-Language Newspapers In India, Radha Balasubramanian

Russian Language and Literature Papers

On May 30, 1901 The Hindu published its first lengthy editorial on Count Leo Tolstoy. It was followed by a personal letter to Tolstoy on June 13, 1901 from A. Ramaseshan, publicist and editor of the journal The Arya out of Madras. This seminal letter set the stage for a steady correspondence between Tolstoy and many Indians from different walks of life, the most prominent among them being M. K. Gandhi (1869-1948), who, as a political and ideological leader of India during the Indian Independence Movement, wrote to the Russian writer between 1909-1910.

Some of the essence of this continuous …