Dead 141 years ago, the writer Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) became a target in Italy because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Amid the escalation of the conflict, an important university in Milan canceled a course on one of the main names in Russian literature – and then reversed itself -, while a theater in Genoa canceled a festival dedicated to the author of “Crime and Punishment".
The controversy was sparked after Russian literature specialist Paolo Nori published a moving message on his Instagram profile announcing the cancellation of a course on Dostoevsky at University of Milan-Bicocca.
The measure provoked unanimous criticism against the university, which later backed down and confirmed the course would be held. “Now I don’t know if I will, I need to think. I don’t know if I want to go to a university that thought Dostoevsky was something that generated tension,” Nori told HANDLE.
Festival canceled
Furthermore, the Govi Theatre, Genova, cancelled a Russian music and literature festival that was scheduled for the coming days and would have honored Dostoevsky for the 200th anniversary of his birth.
However, the cultural institution claims that the decision is due to the fact that the Russian Consulate in Genova sponsor the event.
“We felt obliged to renounce [the event] to make our point. THE Govi Theatre It is a place of culture, peace and hope that does not want to open itself to those who prefer bombs to words”, says an official statement.
“We are aware that being of Russian nationality does not automatically mean being a warmonger, but, in this terrible global climate, we prefer to take a clear position, in the hope that peace returns as soon as possible”, adds the association responsible for the theater.
The mayor of Florença, Dario Nardella, said he had received requests to take down a statue of Dostoevsky in the city.
“This is the crazy war of a dictator and his government, not of one people against another. Instead of erasing centuries of Russian culture, let’s think about how to stop Putin quickly,” he declared.
The sculpture was donated by Russian Embassy in Rome last December, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the writer's birth.
“The problem is not the meetings about Dostoevsky, but rather the Russophobia. It seems that we have reached a level of hysteria against Russian citizens who have no fault of having been born in Russia”, Nori reinforced to ANSA. (HANDLE).
FOLLOW ITALIANISM
