“The Feeling That We Are Witnessing the History Is No More.” An Interview With Andrei Zorin

Abstract

The article presents an interview with Andrei Zorin, which is dedicated to his academic biography. Zorin recalls his family (in particular, his father who was a famous writer and playwright) and childhood as well as his studies at Moscow State University in the 1970s and work on his Ph.D. thesis (“Literary Direction as an Interethnic Community: English and Russian Sentimentalism,” 1983). The circle of Moscow conceptualists is separately mentioned, especially Dmitry Prigov, who played a key role in Zorin’s intellectual development. The scientist describes a period of his life in the 1980s, which can be called precarious, and shares his impressions about teaching in Russian and foreign universities. At the end, the hero of the interview summarizes his academic trajectory and professional achievements. Zorin characterizes the late Soviet intellectual and political atmosphere, and he recalls the moment when he became acquainted with Yuri Lotman, whom he calls the “most important individual that existed in science” for novice researchers of that time. In addition, he talks about the academic opportunities that appeared in the 1990s and his own teaching experience in English and American universities. Zorin details the stages of his career as a scholar and teacher, outlining the structure of the Oxford educational model. The interview makes it possible to fit the scientist’s biography into the late and post-Soviet landscape, including the social and epistemological shift  of the last 30 years.