International Conference in Athens, Greece
June 3-5, 2027 with optional excursions June 6
Location: Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation
Under the auspices of:
Dostoevsky lived at a time when Russia was undergoing the inroads of modernity. In his much-quoted letter to N. D. Fonvizina, written in 1854, he described himself as “a child of the century, a child of unbelief and doubt” — a condition, he added, that would remain with him “to the very lid of my coffin.” Dostoevsky’s work, saturated with the ideas and tensions of his time, reflects both his deep engagement with modernity and his profound criticism of it. Later readers have often seen in him a precursor, or even a “prophet,” of forms of modern consciousness that crystallised only after his death.
Location: Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation
Under the auspices of:
- The National Library of Greece, Athens, Greece
- The Research Initiative in Russian Philosophy, Literature, and Religious Thought, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Northwestern University, Evanston, USA
- The Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Northwestern University. Evanston. USA
Dostoevsky lived at a time when Russia was undergoing the inroads of modernity. In his much-quoted letter to N. D. Fonvizina, written in 1854, he described himself as “a child of the century, a child of unbelief and doubt” — a condition, he added, that would remain with him “to the very lid of my coffin.” Dostoevsky’s work, saturated with the ideas and tensions of his time, reflects both his deep engagement with modernity and his profound criticism of it. Later readers have often seen in him a precursor, or even a “prophet,” of forms of modern consciousness that crystallised only after his death.
We invite papers on Dostoevsky and modernity in both directions: on Dostoevsky as a writer shaped by the intellectual, spiritual, political, and aesthetic transformations of the modern age, and on Dostoevsky as a force that helped shape modernity after him. “Dostoevsky’s modern afterlives” offers a shorthand for this second line of inquiry.
Papers on other Dostoevsky-related topics are also welcome.
The working languages of the conference will be English and Greek. Papers in Russian may also be accommodated, subject to confirmation.
Please send a title, an abstract of up to 300 words, and a short biographical note to:
sljivancanin.zorka@ucy.ac.cy
ckarakep@slavstud.uoa.gr
markosgalounis@yahoo.com
s-mcreynolds@northwestern.edu
Deadline for the submission of the abstract: October 15, 2026
The conference format will be in person.
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