Centre for Comparative Literature

Dissident literature: U of T researcher helps build 'an honest record' of Soviet history

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 22:29:52 +0000

Dissident literature: U of T researcher helps build 'an honest record' of Soviet history

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 03/22/2023 - 18:29

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Ann Komaromi has spent more than two decades working with the Russian human rights organization Memorial, which was recently shut down by a Russian court (photo courtesy of Ann Komaromi)

Arts & Science news staff

Topic

Global Lens

Centre for Comparative Literature

Slavic languages and literatures

Faculty of Arts & Science

Humanities

Russia

Soviet

While the world continues to witness the exchange of bombs and gunfire in Ukraine, the �ؿ�ζSM’s Ann Komaromi is involved in the exchange of underground journalism and literature about the former Soviet Union.

For more than 20 years, Komaromi, an associate professor in the Faculty of Arts & Science’s department of Slavic languages and literatures and the director of the Centre for Comparative Literature, has been involved with Memorial, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights organization that was founded in Russia during the fall of the Soviet Union to collect facts about repressions and civil society activity during Joseph Stalin's reign (1924-1953) and its aftermath.

The organization consisted of two entities: Memorial International, which documented Soviet-era history, including crimes against humanity; and the Memorial Human Rights Centre, which was focused on the protection of human rights – especially in conflict zones in and around modern Russia.

The Russian government ordered Memorial shut down in December 2021 and forced its closure earlier this year.

“The historians at Memorial, some of whom were activists in the dissident period, were not well paid. It was not glamorous and they were not particularly rewarded within their society for what they were doing,” says Komaromi. “That’s why it's important to support what they do and make sure it's well known.”

Komaromi first became connected to Memorial in the late 1990s while working on her PhD dissertation when she was a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“I went to Moscow to do some research and went to the offices and met people there,” she says. “I became fascinated with the materials and information they had. You couldn't find it anywhere else.

“Researching topics that were not part of official history – that became the history of repression in the Stalinist era. Memorial’s efforts to commemorate and gather information about the victims of Stalin era represented the flagship work they were doing for many years. It's enormously significant.”

A woman wearing a face mask with the logo of Russia's rights group Memorial is seen outside the Moscow City Court where a hearing to dissolve the group's Human Rights Centre was taking place (photo by Vasily Maximov/AFP via Getty Images)

Komaromi assisted with Memorial’s efforts to capture the history of dissidence after Stalin which included recording and preserving the unofficial texts Russian citizens produced and circulated. By the mid-2000s, she was deeply involved in a collaboration to further study this publishing network, called "samizdat."

"We collaborated to work on a catalogue of underground publications," she says. Those publications included art and literary journals, rare copies of which are kept in an archive in Bremen, Germany, at the Institute for the Study of Eastern Europe.

Now, electronic editions of those underground journals are available with timelines of dissident movements and published interviews with activists on Komaromi’s digital humanities project site through �ؿ�ζSM Libraries.

Among the journals and publications shared and exchanged, the Chronicle of Current Events was regarded as the most widely read underground bulletin.

“They were recording facts about who had been arrested, who underwent interrogation,” says Komaromi. “It also shared what uncensored works were being passed around and what was being seized during searches. The emphasis was on facts. They wanted to keep emotion and politics out of it.

“But at the same time, there was this thriving poetry scene, there was theatre, fiction writing – all of this unofficial culture.”

Some of the fiction writing and poetry circulated included the works of some very well-known writers, such as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Joseph Brodsky, who was exiled in the early 1970s for his poetry.

But most of the journalists and authors were relatively unknown.

To boost the exposure of their work, Komaromi published her book, Soviet Samzidat, last year, capturing the underground publishing scene between the 1950s and 1980s.

“It's about the publishing itself and the culture – and the rich content of that underground publishing network,” says Komaromi.

She continues to work with Memorial, despite it being shuttered by the Russian government.

“The Russian government needs to control the history of the Soviet Union for its political purposes today,” says Komaromi. “This was a very public signal that the government controlled the narrative about history and wouldn’t allow any independent work to be done.”

That won’t stop Komaromi.

“My research today has to do with dissident memoirs and looking at the ways that people who were involved with various kinds of rights activism described their lives and activities,” she says.

“There's still a form of Memorial functioning in Russia, but a lot of people needed to go abroad. In France, for example, the history of dissidence project is still going on through people working there. That's how I'm able to continue collaborating with them.”

For Komaromi, her work with Memorial has been the defining experience of her distinguished academic career and a reflection of her belief in democratic values.

“I find the commitment of the historians of Memorial inspiring, the way people have devoted so many years to the values they uphold,” she says. “I see what they do as deeply patriotic.

“They want to curate an honest record of the history of their own country for the good of their own people. I feel it's something that's crucially important for Russia and it’s also relevant globally – for all of us who care about fact-based discourse, individual rights and freedom of expression.

“We should all be concerned about the distortion of facts and violent suppression of rights to free speech because historical propaganda is being used to justify Russia's war in Ukraine.”

Quantum physics, planet formation and wrestling: Three U of T researchers awarded 2022 Guggenheim Fellowships

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 29 Apr 2022 17:23:51 +0000

Quantum physics, planet formation and wrestling: Three U of T researchers awarded 2022 Guggenheim Fellowships

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 04/29/2022 - 13:23

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From left to right: 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship recipients Yong-Baek Kim, Yanqin Wu and John Zilcosky.

Chris Sasaki

Topic

Our Community

Germanic Languages & Literatures

Centre for Comparative Literature

Astronomy & Astrophysics

Faculty of Arts & Science

Guggenheim

Humanities

Physics

For research projects in quantum condensed matter, the cultural history of wrestling and the formation of planetary systems, three �ؿ�ζSM scholars from the Faculty of Arts & Science have received prestigious 2022 Guggenheim Fellowships.

Fellowships are awarded by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and this year – the 97th year of the competition – just 180 of 2500 applicants received the awards.

“When honours like the Guggenheim Fellowships are awarded to multiple Faculty scholars, I am always impressed and fascinated by the diverse disciplines of the winners,” says Melanie Woodin, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science. “This year’s cohort is no exception. I am very happy that the fellowships will allow each to pursue their exciting and important work, and I congratulate them all.”

Leah Cowen, U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives, congratulated the researchers.

“These fellowships will help support important work,” Cowen says, “from research into the proto-planetary disks of gas and dust around newly developing stars, to work on theoretical quantum condensed matter physics and a new book on the cultural history of wrestling.”

Here are the three U of T scholars who received Guggenheim Fellowships this year:

Yong-Baek Kim is a professor in the department of physics, as well as the director of the Centre for Quantum Materials and a member of the Centre for Quantum Information & Quantum Control. Kim’s research focus is theoretical quantum condensed matter physics, which involves the study of matter and its exotic behaviour when subjected to extreme conditions such as low temperature and high pressure. His work has potential applications for diverse quantum technologies, including quantum computing.

“I am particularly interested in emergent quantum phases of strongly interacting electrons in quantum materials which may serve as potential platforms for quantum technology,” says Kim.

"Receiving the Guggenheim fellowship is a great honor for me. It's wonderful to see that my work is appreciated by peer intellectuals. I have been privileged to meet and work with so many talented people, especially my former and current students, postdoctoral fellows and collaborators. I thank them for generously sharing their insights."

Yanqin Wu is a professor of theoretical astrophysics in the David A. Dunlap department of astronomy and astrophysics. Throughout her career, she has studied planets – both in and beyond our solar system. Using data gathered by the Kepler planet-hunting space telescope and other observing programs, she studies their internal structure, motions and formation.

Wu’s Guggenheim Fellowship will allow her to focus on research into proto-planetary disks of gas and dust around newly developing stars – structures from which all planets arise. In particular, Wu is investigating an aspect referred to as segmented disks.

"The puzzle is that proto-planetary disks, when observed at sufficiently high resolutions, display prominent bright rings and dark gaps,” says Wu. “I am proposing ideas to resolve this puzzle and to understand how it affects planet formation.”

Says Wu about the fellowship, “It is a luxurious honour to be recognized for doing something that one enjoys and working with people one likes.”

John Zilcosky is a professor in the department of Germanic languages and literatures and the Centre for Comparative Literature. His expertise encompasses modern European literature, psychoanalysis, the art of travel and the history and philosophy of sports.

With the help of the fellowship, Zilcosky will be able to devote time to writing his next book, Wrestling: A Cultural History. In it, he attempts to answer big questions: Why do we wrestle? And why was wrestling humanity’s first sport? He will explain why wrestling is not only humankind's oldest sport but also its most significant. The book will trace the history of grappling from early civilizations and myths through the classical, Renaissance and modern eras – all the way to today’s “pro” wrestling.

It will also explore wrestling’s presence in Indigenous cultures and also women practitioners – from the Greek goddess, Palaistra, to today’s Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW) television series. And it will delve into the “erotic violence that is always just beneath wrestling’s surface.”

Says Zilcosky: “What a thrill! This is a labour of love, returning me to my youth as a high school and U.S. collegiate wrestler. It’s exciting that the Guggenheim Foundation finds this project – which connects the histories of sport and of civilization – compelling. Such recognition reminds me of my conversation with the world and injects me with new energy.”

'Written in blood': U of T prof explores turbulent history of Caribbean in new literature seminar

geoff.vendeville — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 20:51:00 +0000

'Written in blood': U of T prof explores turbulent history of Caribbean in new literature seminar

geoff.vendeville Tue, 02/15/2022 - 15:51

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Conrad James, an associate professor of comparative literature, teaches a graduate literature seminar that explores the sometimes bloody history of the Caribbean (photo courtesy of James)

Sean McNeely

Topic

Our Community

Caribbean

Centre for Comparative Literature

Faculty of Arts & Science

If there were a prize for the course with the most intriguing name, Conrad James's class would be a strong contender.

The new associate professor in the Centre for Comparative Literature in the �ؿ�ζSM's Faculty of Arts & Science teaches “Written in Blood: Caribbean Readings in Conflict and Healing,” a graduate seminar that explores bloodlines, bloodshed and even bloodwork as it relates to disease, as a means to examine the complex and often violent history of the Caribbean.

“The course focuses on blood as a historical question, as a political question, but also as a methodological question – how you can use the concept of blood to make sense of history,” says James. “We also talk about bloodshed and its pivotal role in shaping the consciousness of the contemporary Caribbean.”

James, who previously taught at universities in the U.K. and the University of Houston, said he was impressed by the energy and enthusiasm of his students.

“The class is comprised of lively graduate students from different parts of the world, and they bring rich perspectives to the discussion of the material,” he says. “They also make suggestions based on their lives which illuminate the texts in ways that I had not thought about.”

Although interested in all Caribbean writing, James describes his area of expertise as the literature of the Spanish Caribbean – which extends beyond Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

“I also focus on Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Panama and the Caribbean coast of Mexico,” he says. “That allows for a much more expansive and far-reaching investigation of the influence of the Caribbean.”

So how did James, who was raised in Montego Bay, Jamaica and obtained a PhD in Latin American literature from the University of Cambridge, come to adore Spanish Caribbean writers and literature?

“This might not sound very academic, but when I first encountered this literature, I found it delightful, extremely sensual,” he says. “There's something specific about the Spanish Caribbean that draws you in at a very visceral level.”

Cuba, which appeared to punch above its weight in global politics, became a subject of fascination for James. “I was interested in how this small island had effected a lot of change in cultural and political terms.”

James aimed to fill a gap in the discussion of Afro-Cuban literature with his 2019 book, Filial Crisis and Erotic Politics in Black Cuban Literature, focusing on Black Cuban writing and the themes of family, love and erotic politics.

James has plenty of recommendations for readers interested in Spanish Caribbean literature – starting with writers who had a profound impact on him: Cuban novelist, essayist and musicologist Alejo Carpentier (1904-1980), for example.

“El reino de este mundo (The Kingdom of This World) was one of the books that was pivotal for me in my early training as a student, to understand how the Caribbean was a really important location from which to understand and reinterpret the history of the world,” he says.

Another writer he recommends is the Dominican poet, writer and diplomat, Manuel del Cabral (1907-1999). His 1973 novel, El Presidente Negro (The Black President), pictured a world where the United States elects a Black leader.

Many of these writers express themselves in what James describes as a uniquely Spanish Caribbean voice. Cuban novelist Mayra Montero “is a fierce literary arbiter for environmental justice in the Caribbean,” he says. “Her novel You, Darkness is spectacular.”

And James calls Frank Báez of the Dominican Republic “a young poet who is a must-read.”

“His work is richly musical and decidedly transnational. I highly recommend the bilingual collection of poems, Last Night I Dreamt I was a DJ,” he says.

When he's not teaching, James is busy with exciting research projects, such as an upcoming book called In the Path of Sun and Snow: the Transnational Geographies of Caribbean Culture.

“It traces the construction of Caribbean cultures in places you would not expect to find it,” says James, who explores pockets of Caribbean culture in areas of Spain, parts of South America such as Argentina and even Bavaria.

“I’m tracing the different patterns and trying to show that Caribbean cultures create their own geographies, and they defy the traditional expected bounds of limitations.”

James is also working on a research project that explores African theatre and performance in Cuba, home to his favourite city in the Caribbean: Santiago de Cuba.

“It reminds me of when I was a young child growing up in Montego Bay,” James says. “It’s really interesting because Cuba has an image of being highly Spanish – and by that, I mean Hispanic. But if you go to Santiago de Cuba, it’s very African.”

After the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804), many French landowners fled Haiti for Cuba for fear of their safety and took with them large groups of Haitians, James says.

“So you have an established Haitian culture. Then you have people from the English-speaking Caribbean, like Jamaica and Barbados, and they have their cultures there. And then you have the Spanish. So this is a tremendous mix in a small space, it's very vibrant.

“And that's what’s so interesting about the Caribbean – how global it is, but also its position as a conduit through which we can reinterpret the world at large.”