SERGEI LEBEDEV IN CONVERSATION WITH DESSY GAVRILOVA
SAMSTAG, 30.09. 2023 / 15h30,
AKADEMIE DER BILDENDEN KÜNSTE WIEN, AULA
The malicious Russian war against Ukraine raises questions about Russia’s historical and political origins. The history of Russian oppression of Ukrainian nationhood spans centuries. However, the Russian opposition prefers to describe Russia as a failed democracy, a country forcibly taken by authoritarian rule, rather than an ex-empire trying to rebuild itself.
In conversation with Vienna Humanities Festival co-founder DESSY GAVRILOVA, Russian writer and journalist SERGEI LEBEDEV will reveal how Russia’s colonial and imperial past, crucially overlooked by Russian liberals and the West, has determined Russia’s aggressive stance towards its neighbors ever since the beginning of the First Chechen war.
© TANJA DRAŠKIĆ SAVIĆ
Sergei Lebedev was born in Moscow in 1981. Both of his parents were geologists. Following their path at the age of fifteen, Lebedev spent eight seasons as a field worker in geological expeditions. Beginning in 2010, Lebedev wrote five novels dedicated to the theme of the hidden Soviet past, the impact of Stalin`s repressions and persecutions and their repercussions in modern Russian life. His fifth novel, Untraceable, is an intellectual thriller exploring the shadowy world of the Russian secret services. Lebedev`s books are translated into 22 languages and were shortlisted for major book prizes.