6 December 2016
5pm, G.04 (Screening room), 50 George Square.
Léandre Lucas (University of Nice): Confronting identities and food in Goncharov’s works: the kacha (porridge) versus the pineapple.
[Russian Research Seminar]
Léandre Lucas is completing his PhD on Ivan Goncharov’s works at the University of Paris (the Sorbonne) where he received his MA degree in Russian and English studies. He is currently working at the University of Nice as Assistant Professor of Russian.
Ivan Goncharov (1812-1891), one of the most prominent Russian 19th-c. writers, is well- known for his novel Oblomov (1859) that portrays the notion of idleness in the context of Russian modernization. The novel explores the construction of Russian and European identities in relation to food, travel, and cultural trends. Goncharov’s famous book Frigate Pallada (1854-57) is based on his dairies featuring his 1852-54 around the world expedition on board of the ship Frigate Pallada through Great Britain, Africa and Japan. In these works and other writings, Goncharov explores the construction of Russian, Asian and European identities. The talk will focus on Goncharov’s vivid accounts of culinary practices in different countries, including Russia, in relation to the construction of national identities.