Volume 18

Introduction. Dear Readers,

On behalf of the editors and contributors, I am pleased to present the eighteenth volume of the UC Undergraduate Journal of Slavic and East/Central European Studies. This year’s cohort of contributors includes undergraduate students from UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, Columbia University, and Lawrence University. Our contributors from UCLA, Tyler Armstrong and Kelly Nguyen, presented their papers at the twenty-seventh annual UC Undergraduate Conference on Slavic and East/Central European Studies, held in April of 2024. Together, the conference and journal aim to showcase the outstanding work of undergraduate students committed to scholarly inquiry on topics related to East/Central Europe and Eurasia.

The majority of the papers in this volume of the journal center on literature, ranging from renowned classics such as Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina to the pop culture comics produced by Marvel. Spanning numerous periods, movements, and genres, these papers examine and complicate portrayals of Russian and Soviet identity as seen from within the region as well as from abroad.

In her paper “Anna Karenina as Tolstoy’s Portrait of Decadence,” Maya Shkolnik (Columbia University) puts Anna Karenina in conversation with texts from the Decadent movement and explores how Tolstoy’s beliefs around morality and art shaped his depiction of Decadence through the character of Anna.

Kelly Nguyen (UCLA, and a former editorial assistant for the journal) and Guy Yegudin (UC Santa Barbara) explore critiques of the Soviet Union in novels that openly depict or more discreetly imply censorship, persecution, and disillusionment with socialist practices. In “A Utopian Mirage: The Disconnect Between Theoretical Ideals and Practical Realities of Socialism in Andrei Platonov’s Chevengur,” Nguyen reads Chevengur as a subversion of socialist realist conventions that points to the failures of the state socialism implemented during Platonov’s lifetime. In a similar vein, Yegudin’s paper, “Out of Place and Out of Time: The Plight of the Intellectual Under Totalitarian Regimes as Depicted in the Novels of Bulgakov and Nabokov,” explores a narrative pattern of persecution and escape that appears not only in the novels of Bulgakov and Nabokov, but in their lived experiences as well.

Tyler Armstrong (UCLA) examines American perceptions of the USSR—and later, Russia—in his paper “‘You Sent for Me, Comrade Leader?’: How Marvel’s Black Widow Characterizes Russian Identity as Inferior to American Identity.” He analyzes the transformation of the Marvel character Black Widow from the 1960s to the present day, and in doing so reveals a remarkably consistent anti-Russian attitude despite Black Widow’s many iterations in comics and films.

Our final paper brings together music theory, biography, and nostalgia in “You Can’t Go Home Again: An Analysis of Rachmaninoff’s Trois chansons russes.” Lorcan Krecek (Lawrence University) connects Rachmaninoff’s early experiences of bucolic Russian life to the folk-influenced music he later produced in exile, namely Trois chansons russes, and offers a detailed analysis of the first movement.

We would like to thank the many people who support this journal and make it possible for us to share the work of our contributors. First, we would like to congratulate the undergraduate writers on their excellent work, and we invite more students to submit their papers related to East/Central Europe and Eurasia. As always, our journal is indebted to Olga Kagan, whom we remember for her role in founding the journal and supporting undergraduate research. We also express our deepest thanks to Yelena Furman, the undergraduate mentor at the UCLA Department of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Languages; to Jordan Galczynski for establishing our new online platform; and to the members of our editorial board, whose expertise ensures the highest quality of work. Many thanks to all of them.

Finally, we are grateful to Center for European and Eurasian Studies and the UCLA Office of the Dean of Humanities for their support in making this journal possible.

Sylvie Vidan

Managing Editor

Abstract. This essay analyzes Marvel’s portrayal of Black Widow (Natasha Romanov) across comics and film to examine how Russian identity is characterized in American popular culture. I trace her evolution from Cold War villain in 1964 to American superhero, arguing that Marvel consistently depicts Russian identity as morally corrupt, violent, and authoritarian.

My analysis examines Tales of Suspense (1964), The Itsy-Bitsy Spider (1999), Mark Waid’s 2016 run, and the 2021 Black Widow film. Russian characters like Yelena Belova and Alexei Shostakov are portrayed as brutal and morally compromised, whereas Natasha achieves heroism only by defecting to America and adopting American values. These narratives position Russia as savage and exploitative while presenting America as compassionate and morally superior.

Black Widow’s character development follows a consistent pattern: Russian heritage represents trauma and corruption requiring Americanization if it is to be overcome. This representation perpetuates Cold War stereotypes in post-Soviet contexts, using popular media to reinforce American exceptionalism. My paper ultimately demonstrates how entertainment continues shaping perceptions of national identity through seemingly apolitical cultural products.

Abstract. This paper analyzes Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Trois Chansons Russes, Op. 41, which I argue was composed as an expression of homesickness and connection to pre-revolutionary Russia during his American exile. Written in 1927 after a seven-year compositional drought, this choral work represents Rachmaninoff’s last major engagement with Russian folk material.

The analysis traces Rachmaninoff’s attachment to Russian musical traditions, from his formative years at Ivanovka estate to his immersion in Orthodox church music and folk melodies. His use of pre-reform orthography and choice of melancholy folk tales—particularly “Через речку, речку” about an abandoned drake—mirror his own isolation.

My analysis reveals Rachmaninoff’s sophisticated integration of Russian musical principles, specifically modal mutability (peremennost’) and melodic cells (popevki). The work’s harmonic structure reflects Russian folk and liturgical practices rather than Western functional harmony, in this way expressing Rachmaninoff’s exile experience.

Abstract. My essay examines Andrei Platonov’s novel Chevengur as a critique of Soviet socialism through its subversion of socialist realist literary conventions. Written during a period of increasing censorship under Glavlit, Platonov’s work was banned in the Soviet Union until 1988 due to its unflattering portrayal of socialist ideals. My analysis demonstrates how Platonov uses four key literary devices to expose socialism’s fundamental flaws: broken machinery that parallels the dysfunctional foundations of socialist systems; dreams incorporating Nikolai Fyodorov’s philosophical concepts, thus revealing the gap between utopian ideals and reality; characters who exploit communal goodwill for personal gain; and deliberately ambiguous language that circumvents censorship while conveying skepticism about the Soviet system.

I argue that Chevengur depicts socialism’s failure not through its implementation or gradual corruption, but through its assumption of human goodness and selflessness among its enforcers. Through characters like the exploitative Kondaev and the power-hungry Prokofy, Platonov illustrates how individual selfishness undermines collective ideals. The novel presents socialism as inherently sound in theory but ultimately doomed by human greed and self-interest. Despite his criticism, Platonov remained committed to socialist principles while rejecting the Soviet Communist Party’s approach to implementing them.

Abstract. In my paper, I argue that Anna Karenina exemplifies the Decadent character type through her embodiment of artificiality and egotism, the two primary criticisms Tolstoy leveled against the Decadent movement in What is Art? I analyze Anna’s artificiality through her construction of a life built on lies and her aesthetic self-enclosure, drawing parallels to Huysmans’ Against Nature. Anna creates physical and emotional barriers that isolate her from authentic relationships while pursuing sensual pleasure. Her egotism manifests through manipulative behavior, using hysteria and illness to gain power over Karenin and Vronsky, ultimately leading to masochistic love patterns. Tolstoy contrasts Anna’s moral decay with the Russian peasantry, who represent authentic spiritual values and natural unity. The railroad symbolizes destructive modernity, and Anna’s suicide beneath the train represents the inevitable consequence of choosing artificiality and self-indulgence over truth and moral living. In sum, I argue that Anna Karenina constitutes a critique of Decadent values.

Abstract. This paper examines parallel experiences of intellectual protagonists in Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita(1967) and Vladimir Nabokov’s Invitation to a Beheading (1936) and Bend Sinister (1947). Written during the persecution of the Russian intelligentsia under Soviet totalitarianism, these novels share similarities that reflect intellectuals’ struggles under anti-intellectual regimes.

Each work features an intellectual protagonist—the Master, Cincinnatus C., and Adam Krug—who faces systematic persecution by totalitarian systems that view independent thought as a threat. My analysis reveals consistent patterns: anti-intellectual regimes employ censorship, surveillance, and imprisonment to suppress dissenting voices and maintain ideological control.

Most significantly, all three narratives conclude with protagonists achieving transcendence into “otherworlds”—alternate dimensions offering refuge from totalitarian oppression. These fantastical escapes represent the authors’ recognition that genuine intellectual freedom was impossible under Soviet rule. I argue that these shared elements reflect the Russian intelligentsia’s collective experience of displacement, persecution, and yearning for intellectual sanctuary, suggesting that peace could only be found through escape from reality itself.