Tag Archives: Maxim Gorky

lenin: guarding the torment

…It was Lenin’s hardness, his character as an ascetic revolutionary, that to a significant extent attracted his small group of fellow conspirators and propelled this extraordinary minority into the highest authority over a huge land… …Then, in 1903, Lenin implemented … Continue reading

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lenin: vices of spontaneity and softness

…Lenin came to exercise enormous control over his emotions. He spurned all signs of softness and spontaneity. Even his marriage was a “revolutionary” one to a fellow conspirator… The second incident illustrating Lenin’s denial of libidinal feelings involves his reaction … Continue reading

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revolution: lenin and libidinal ties

…Two incidents dramatically illustrate Lenin’s efforts to free himself from libidinal ties. The first occurred around 1900 and involved Plekhanov, Lenin’s revered mentor in Marxism. In a power struggle over Iskra, the periodical inspired by Lenin, the younger man came … Continue reading

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revolution: all work and no play for lenin

…Lenin came to exercise enormous control over his emotions. He spurned all kinds of softness and spontaneity. Even his marriage was a “revolutionary” one to a fellow conspirator… Any pleasure that stood in the way of work must be given … Continue reading

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catherine and the cultural show

The enduring myth of the Potemkin village. It began with Catherine The Great,s boat ride down the Dnieper in 1787, to celebrate her triumphal tour of the Crimea and the new and greater Russia. The Empress showed off the wonders … Continue reading

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dada chess: logic vs. transcendence

Lenin’s chance meeting with dadaist Tristan Tzara in 1916 was ostensibly arranged to play chess. Was there something in Dada that piqued the revolutionary passions? Or was it a case of a parallax gap; two points between which no connection, … Continue reading

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Beyond the Metaphor of sacrifice : the grandmaster as poet

In the Medieval period, an age of magicians and shamans, it was only natural that they should cast their spells over the game; and there were a great many chessboards on which it was considered sheer folly to be the … Continue reading

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DOSTOEVSKY, KUROSAWA AND THE HEIJI WAR

Akira Kurosawa ( 1910-1998 ) applied Western philosophy to Eastern themes in films that appealed to both worlds, but not always for the same reasons. Kurosawa used a narrative style to recount his stories, a form of cinematic deconstruction that … Continue reading

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