„Rusycystyczne Studia Literaturoznawcze” / „Russian Studies in Literature”

 № 36 (2026)

Call for Papers

ANTI-UTOPIAS AND DYSTOPIAS IN RUSSIAN LITERATURE

Dystopias and anti-utopias constitute one of the most recognizable literary genres in the 20th and 21st centuries. These terms are often used interchangeably, quite wrongly, as if they were synonyms. Meanwhile, the differences between them are apparent. Dystopia derives its pessimistic visions of the future directly from the observable trends in contemporary reality. In contrast, anti-utopia, in turn, derives its pessimistic visions of the future from utopian programs aimed at improving society. To put it another way, the point of reference for dystopia is the reality surrounding the writer, while anti-utopia it is a specific utopia. Anti-utopias and dystopias entered Russian literature at the beginning of the 20th century[1], a period of socio-political changes and upheavals that ended with the Bolsheviks taking power and attempting to build the first classless state in the world. As is known, the classic of the genre is the novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, completed in 1920 and published abroad four years later, and in the Soviet Union only in 1989. Others followed it; the most famous are The Fatal Eggs by Mikhail Bulgakov, The Foundation Pit and Chevengur by Andrei Platonov, Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov, The Island of Crimea by Vasily Aksionov, Snail on the Slope by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Moscow 2042 by Vladimir Voinovich, The Slynx by Tatyana Tolstaya, and No Return by Alexander Kabakov. As it turns out, dystopias and anti-utopias did not lose their popularity after the collapse of the Soviet empire – the traditions of the genre are continued by Vladimir Sorokin (Day of the Oprichnik), Viktor Pelevin (S.N.U.F.F.), Dmitry Bykov (ZhD, Removal Service), Olga Slavnikova (2017), Sergei Dorienko (2008), Andrei Volos (Animator). This list could be continued, especially since there are works not formally classified within the dystopian or anti-utopian genre, in which one can nevertheless find features of dystopia/anti-utopia.

Why are anti-utopia and dystopia so popular in Russian literature? After 1917, the political, social and economic experiment carried out by the Bolsheviks was undoubtedly decisive, as were their far-reaching plans and the fears they sparked, leading the creators of Russian literature to fundamentally pessimistic reflections. As for more modern times, there is no shortage of opinions that the dark, eschatological messianism that has characterized Russians since the end of the 20th century finds its outlet in the dystopian genre. An excellent example is Russian fantasy, where at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, one of the most popular themes was the ongoing or already completed state disintegration. Aleksandr Kabakov was one of the first to raise this issue in the story No Return. He was continued by Pavel Krusanov (Укус ангела), Dmitry Bykov, Vladimir Sorokin, Sergei Dorienko, Olga Slavnikova, Aleksandr Smolensky and Eduard Krasniansky (Заложник) or Sergei Minaev (Media Sapiens. Повесть о третьем сроке). In contemporary Russian mass literature, dystopias enjoy exceptional popularity. Both mainstream authors and those associated with high-brow literature do not avoid them. The trend towards “near-future dystopias” seems to be driven by several factors. Firstly, writers are less and less interested in the past, preferring futurological predictions to it. Secondly, precise descriptions of disasters seem more interesting than a vague apocalypse. The state depicted in Russian dystopian literature often operates according to dystopian principles (a dystopian warning), and the events, although set in the past, actually concern the present. As social practice shows, much of what seemed fantastic in dystopias became reality.

Specifically, an anti-utopia or dystopia is a fictional narrative that satirically portrays a social order, a society subjected to the control of a power that destroys individuality and individual freedom. The action of this type of work takes place in an imaginary time-space, containing explicit references to the author's contemporary times and often polemicising with a specific utopian work. Anti-utopia/dystopia in an ironic or satirical tone, critiquing idealized images of societies entangled in forced egalitarianism and subject to the dictates of civilization. In the 20th century, anti-utopia gave way to dystopia, or negative utopia, presenting catastrophic visions of human existence. The dystopia author renounces positive solutions, analyzing the destructive effects of the development of social systems, scientific progress, and ecological threats. In the face of the crisis of classical utopias, twentieth-century dystopia entered into a discussion with political utopias.

In the planned volume we propose to address the following topics:

• dystopia/anti-utopia in the literature of the Soviet period and after the collapse of the USSR – similarities and differences
• new threats pointed out by the creators of Russian dystopias/anti-utopias
• the genre of dystopia/anti-utopia under the constraints of formal and informal state policies
• ideologies of the 20th and 21st centuries in Russian dystopias/dystopias (fascism, Nazism, communism, capitalism, globalism, liberalism, neoliberalism)
• limitations and threats to human rights (of individuals) in Russian dystopias/dystopias
• the future of culture and civilization in Russian dystopias/dystopias
• a warning against the consequences of the domination of technological civilization over humanistic civilization
• visions of a universal catastrophe of the world and humanity (dehumanization of culture, objectification of man, authoritarian power, programming of human action)
• limitations of the spiritual sphere of the individual, the expanding field of human alienation in a world dominated by production, machines and technology

Please submit your manuscripts (max. 40,000 characters) via the OJS platform by 28 February 2026:
https://journals.us.edu.pl/index.php/RSL/about/submissions. The editorial board accepts texts in Polish, Russian, and English. For correspondence, please contact: rsl@us.edu.pl

[1] This does not mean, of course, that manifestations of this genre cannot be found in earlier works. There is, after all, nothing to prevent us from considering Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Notes from Underground to be a dystopia; as we know, it was a negative reaction to Nikolai Chernyshevsky’s utopia contained in his novel What is to be Done? The Demons are also a negative utopia. The History of a Certain City by Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin can be treated similarly.

 „Rusycystyczne Studia Literaturoznawcze” / „Russian Studies in Literature”

 № 35 (2025)

Call for Papers

Russian literature in the face of the experience of totalitarianism

After 1917, the authors of Russian literature — as a result of the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks — had to function in a completely changed reality. Initially, this was mainly due to the enormous chaos and uncertainty caused by the civil war and wartime communism. Then, in 1921, Lenin's decree introduced the New Economic Policy, which brought about relative socio-economic stability. Almost until the end of the 1920s, Russian writers had a limited amount of freedom, which, with the end of the decade and Stalin’s assumption of full power in short order, was completely curtailed. While in the 1920s Russia/Soviet Union remained — despite the efforts of the authorities — an authoritarian rather than a totalitarian state, with the beginning of the first quinquennium (1929), one must speak only of totalitarianism. The remnants of freedom held by the creators of Russian literature were eradicated with the establishment of the Union of Soviet Writers (1932) and the imposition on them at the Union’s first congress (1934) of socialist realism as essentially the only creative method (in official circulation, of course). Although the totalitarian fetters were loosened somewhat after Stalin’s death in 1953, there could be no question of a return to normality during the thaw, let alone the stagnation. It was only initiated by Gorbachev’s perestroika, which made it possible to take up new, previously forbidden themes presented in poetics that had little in common with socialist realism. At the time, it might have seemed that the period of totalitarianism in Russia had come to a definitive end. Unfortunately, Putin’s Russia must once again be considered a classic totalitarian state. Russian writers residing in Russia once again found themselves in a situation of total restriction of creative freedom.

Within the framework of the thematic issue, we propose to address the following topics:

— authors of Russian literature in the face of censorship restrictions

— Russian writers faced with the constraints of socialist realism

— taboos in Russian literature

— the samizdat phenomenon

— socialist realism, conceptualism, postmodernism and other phenomena in the literary underground

— systemic and non-systemic literature in the Stalinist and post-Stalinist periods

— criticism of Soviet power and the realities of life in the USSR in works authorised for publication after 1953 (rural prose, lyrical prose, the work of Yuri Trifonov, etc.).

— the place of satire in Russian literaturę

— the theme of gulags, purges and persecution in Russian literature

— the situation of non-systematic authors in Stalinist times and after 1953

— totalitarianism and the internal emigration of authors from Russian literature

— the place of dystopia and anti-utopia in Russian literature

— Russian literature in the face of the totalitarian system in Putin’s Russia

Language of publication of the article: Polish, Russian, English. Please submit your papers by 31 December 2024 via the OJS platform: https://journals.us.edu.pl/index.php/RSL/about/submissions

„Rusycystyczne Studia Literaturoznawcze” / „Russian Studies in Literature”

№ 34 (2024)

Call for Papers

Literature and culture of post-Soviet Russian exile

In his book Russian Literature in Exile, which was the first significant attempt to present Russian émigré literature of the 1920–1939 period, Gleb Struve stated that the time for summaries had not yet arrived, as it was still a living phenomenon and subject to processes of multidirectional development. Almost a century later, this thought is still proving to be valid. After 1991, the end of émigré literature as a separate branch of Russian literature was announced. Thirty years later, we observe the intensive development of the work of the Russian diaspora in various parts of the world. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the previously predicted returns of refugees did not turn out to be as frequent as the subsequent departures from Russia. The wave of economic emigration of the 1990s was followed by an exodus triggered by dissent at the return of the totalitarian regime. Today, both the mission and the sense of identity of the writers of the new wave of emigration are changing. The writers who left Russia after 1991 adopted different attitudes towards the culture of the new country and the native culture: a transitional, transcultural state; assimilation into a new culture and the adoption of a new identity; a strong bond with Russian culture while disagreeing with its ideological dogmas.

The recent wave of Russian emigration, while still in statu nascendi, remains a little-studied phenomenon. The aim of our proposed meeting will therefore be to reflect academically on the output of Russian artists who left the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

We invite you to discuss the following topics related to the post-Soviet wave of Russian emigration:

— development trends of Russian literature outside the country after 1991;

— various aspects of the work of new representatives of the Russian diaspora;

— reflections on the traditions of Russian literature and Western culture in the works; new wave emigrants;

— the relationship of the works of writers of the post-Soviet wave to the literature of previous waves.

We are open to your suggestions on the themes of the presentations within the main theme.

Language of publication of the article: Polish, Russian, English. Please submit your papers by 31 December 2023 via the OJS platform: https://journals.us.edu.pl/index.php/RSL/about/submissions