Talks
2024 | How and Why Study Russian Esotericism?
If one wants to understand the history of twentieth-century esotericism (or art, or science, or post-Soviet politics), then Russian esotericism should be an integral part of this conversation. It is important to speak about Russian esotericism in the larger context of both Western esotericism and Russian history because without these two components many aspects of Russian esotericism would remain unclear.
2022 | Soviet and Post-Soviet Ufology and Religion: The 1980s and the 1990s
Ufological narratives, although by no means an invention of the 1980s, became particularly visible in Russia during Perestroika and in the 1990s so much so that it would be impossible to create any sufficiently comprehensive picture of Russian spirituality and Russian culture of the period in general without considering ufology as its important part.
2022 | Statement for the Roundtable Science and the Impossible
What is the impossible? In this brief roundtable statement, I draw attention to the fact that the limits of the impossible are culturally defined and that, given how strongly we are conditioned to perceive the world in a certain way, the impossible becomes something that is out of reach not simply theoretically but also experientially. Psychological research in the fields like inattentional blindness hints at the mechanisms through which the impossible becomes imperceivable.
2021 | Esotericism and Computers in the USSR and Russia: from Biological Wireless to the Internet
The talk analyzes an impact of esoteric ideas on shaping of computer science and information technology in Russia. The main argument is that the development of these fields in the Russian context was subjected to influences of esoteric ideas inherited through several channels, including Soviet cosmism and discussions about parapsychology during the 1960s.
2021 | Narratives about Satanic Conspiracy in Twentieth-Century Russian Literature
In the talk, I analyze Satanic conspiracy narratives of the first quarter of the twentieth century and use computer analyzis to identify continuity and differences between them and contemporary conspiracy narratives in Russia. I argue that during the revival of conspiracy narratives after the fall of the Soviet Union they integrated new elements, namely ideas of anti-cult movement and anti-Western rhetoric established during the Soviet era. Nowadays, these narratives continue playing an important role in Russian domestic and international politics.