The Department of Russian and Slavic Studies invites you to the last of a series of four job talks in Russian Literature.
Like their contemporaries in Western Europe, nineteenth-century Russian writers and artists utilize the figure of the courtesan to investigate fears of upward mobility and the commodification of desire. From Alexander Pushkin to Lev Tolstoy, each Russian author takes up the fate of “fallen women” to make a definitive statement about moral, social, and aesthetic questions. Less understood, however, is the role of visual culture in formulating Russian consciousness on relations between the sexes. This presentation uses archival images and lithographs from the period to demonstrate that alongside the literary (and moralistic) discussion of prostitution, there exists a vibrant subculture celebrating the courtesan and her milieu. I argue that visual reproductions of courtesans codify such women as astute and active consumers who use performance to their advantage. By focusing on how the images promote courtesans as consumer and commodity, this research illuminates how sex work becomes marketed as a crucial component to leisure culture in nineteenth-century Russia. This event is sponsored by the College of Humanities, and the Russian and Slavic Studies Department.