“Read Dostoevsky”: International Symposium in China
Vladimir Zakharov, Full Professor, the Head of Department of Classic Philology, Russian Literature and Journalism of the Institute of Philology, delivered a lecture on PetrSU publications of Dostoevsky’s books for the 200th anniversary of the writer.
On October 23-25, Wenzhou University (China) hosted the International Symposium dedicated to the 200th birth anniversary of Fyodor Dostoevsky. Vladimir Zakharov, PetrSU Professor, took part in the online meeting. As the curator of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research competition "Sources and Methods in Studying Dostoevsky's Legacy in Russian and World Culture", he spoke about its grandiose and unprecedented results in the report "Thirty Books of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research for the anniversary of Dostoevsky".
For three years, about 200 researchers from different cities of Russia searched for documentary sources of Dostoevsky's life and work, conducted textual, mathematical, philosophical, psychological studies of his work, developed new interpretations in the historical and modern context, analyzed approaches to teaching his legacy in secondary and high school. The result of this large-scale research activity was the publication of 30 monographs on Dostoevsky and his legacy.
Vladimir Zakharov briefly presented each book to the international audience. Among them there were 7 editions that were prepared by PetrSU scientists and students.
Zakharov's presentation initiated a vivid discussion. It was unexpected and pleasant for the professor when one of the questions (“What would you recommend for young researchers?”) was asked in excellent Russian by a Chinese student Wu Zhenyu, who previously has studied at PetrSU two years ago and then returned to China.
“Read Dostoevsky. The world becomes better when you read his books. You speak Russian very well, thus, you’ve made the best of your studies in Petrozavodsk”,
- answered Vladimir Zakharov, Honorary President of the International Dostoevsky Society.
The conference participants from China and other countries were delighted with the contribution of Russian researchers to the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the world-famous genius, and Zhang Biange, the Associate Professor at Xiamen University of China, suggested translating some books into Chinese so that they would become available to Dostoevsky lovers from China.
