Abstract

George Bernard Shaw is commonly regarded as one of the most controversial intellectuals of the first half of the twentieth century. Known for the ambiguity of his statements and seeming inconsistency of his views, one thing, nevertheless, remained constant throughout the life of the British dramatist - his long-term enthusiasm for Russia, and his firm belief that ‘the Russians would give the world back its lost soul’. Moved by the Russian cultural tradition, he found inspiration in the morally charged writings of Tolstoy and Gorky; and sent a copy of his Back to Methuselah to Lenin.

The paper will examine the development of Shaw’s political thinking within the context of his dramatic output by focusing on two main landmarks in this life-long experience. It will analyse Shaw’s response to the October Revolution (1917), which emerged in the form of a short one-act playlet Annajanska, the Bolshevik Empress (produced within a fortnight after the October events); and then draw upon a much publicised trip to the Soviet Union, undertaken in 1931 by a seventy-five-year-old dramatist to witness the results of socialist construction.

Speaker

Dr Olga Soboleva, of the London School of Economics Dr Olga Soboleva teaches undergraduate courses in Literature and Society at LSE and is currently the Russian Language co-ordinator. Her research interests include Comparative Literature with particular reference to Russian and French Symbolism; early twentieth century Russian literature and art; Anglo-Soviet comparative studies in the Cold War period, and post-totalitarian culture.

Recent publications: The Silver Mask: Harlequinade in the Symbolist Poetry of Blok and Belyi (Peter Lang Publishers, June 2008), and The Only Hope of the World: George Bernard Shaw and Russia (Oxford, 2012) with Angus Wrenn; articles on Chekhov. Dostoevsky and modern remakes of Turgenev; recently organised exhibitions: GB Shaw in Russia, and Censorship in Literature and Drama.