Pushkin in the African-American Imagination

Workshop with Melissa Frazier, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY. African-Americans have long identified with Russian poet Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) both as a great poet and as a poet of partly African descent. Mention of Pushkin’s African great-grandfather appeared in the African-American press as early as 1828, and Pushkin himself remained a touchstone for Black artists well into the 20th century. Join us for a combined screening and discussion that will focus on the work of two Black artists in particular.

We will talk about the 1990 film To Sleep With Anger by acclaimed AfricanAmerican director Charles Burnett, which tells the story of an enigmatic older gentleman, Harry (played by actor Danny Glover). Harry pays an unexpected visit to old friends, who, like Harry, are originally from the South, but followed the Great Migration to L.A. where they now live a comfortable middle-class life. We will then watch and listen to clips of African-American actor, singer and activist Paul Robeson, blacklisted for his political stance in the 1940s and ‘50s, as he performs in English, Russian, and Yiddish.

Melissa Frazier is a professor of Russian Language and Russian and Comparative Literature. Current projects include Dostoevsky and the detective novel and the intersections of Russian and African American literature. Frazier is a DAAD visiting professor at the Slavic Department in Tübingen during the summer semester 2024.

In English

Location: d.a.i. hall

Admission: free, please register online www.dai-tuebingen.de/frazier

In collaboration with the College of Fellows and the Slavic Department of the University of Tübingen and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)