Russian Lit in Bite-Sized Pieces: Mikhail Lermontov

Professor Randy Perazzini leads a series of discussions focusing on short fiction from Russia’s Golden Age, setting the stage with a brief description of the historical and biographical contexts of the work. Lermontov’s “Hero of Our Time” centers on a troubling figure who is charming and selfish, amoral and decent, Romantic and erratic—much like Lermontov himself. Like Pushkin, he plays with the reader and he sets his stories in the exotic Caucasus. What kind of “hero” is Russian society producing?

Randy Perazzini holds a Ph.D. in English literature from Cornell University and has taught for 27 years, primarily in Mexico City, at St. John’s College, and for Renesan, most recently offering “Aeschylus & O’Neill in Conversation.”