Lazar Fleishman : An Oral History
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Lazar Fleishman, Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, reflects on his life and career. Fleishman describes his upbringing in Riga, Latvia; the influence of his music education on his later career; and his early exposure to literature and poetry banned in the Soviet Union. He goes on to describe his emigration to Israel, his academic work there, and his transition to the Bay Area, teaching at UC Berkeley and later Stanford. Fleishman shares memories of his friends and colleagues in Latvia, Israel, and the United States and the success of building Slavic studies at Stanford. Fleishman also reflects on his work on Boris Pasternak, including conducting his own research; hosting international conferences on Pasternak; and bringing Pasternak’s papers to Stanford.
- Summary
- Parents before and during World War II and early life in Latvia • Parents’ concealing Jewish heritage • Languages spoken during childhood • Learning he was Jewish in the mid-1950s • Jewish life in Riga, Latvia • De-Stalinization • Friend Solomon Volkov • Success of classmates in music: Philippe Hirschhorn, Josef Rissin, Gidon Kremer • Parents’ expectations for him • Studying violin at Riga Music School • Music scene in Riga • Favorite composers • Early interest in visual art • Love of poetry and discovering Boris Pasternak’s work • Entrance to university to study Russian language and literature • Influence of music background on career and research • Friends Evgeny Toddes and Roman Timenchick • Exposure to banned literature and art • Emergence of samizdat typescripts • Friendship with literary critic Andrei Sinyavsky • Decision to pursue an academic career • Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago • Changing attitudes towards Jews in the Soviet Union following the Five-Day War and impact on pursuing graduate education • Yuri Lotman • Official dissertation on Pushkin and unofficial one on Pasternak • Emigration to Israel • Start of academic career in Israel • Working with Omry Ronen • Israeli Slavistics in the 1980s • Publication of serial Slavica Hierosolymitana • Friendship with Ilya Rips • Studying in Israel • Encountering a different variant of Russian culture and a new freedom in Israel • Transition from Soviet Union to Israel • Forging connections to Jewish heritage, religion, and traditions • Ronen’s background • Coming to UC Berkeley and Stanford in the late 1980s • Stanford’s efforts to build up the humanities • Creation of Stanford Slavic Studies journal • Slavic research and resources in the Bay Area • Colleagues at Stanford: Ed Brown, Joseph Frank, Gregory Freidin, Andrew Wachtel • Impact of perestroika on Slavic Studies • Thoughts on placing Stanford’s foreign literature and language departments under one divisional umbrella • Russian literary studies at Stanford compared to peer institutions • Approach to teaching • Teaching Russian poetry • Working with undergraduate and graduate students • Graduate students: Kevin Platt, Irina Shevelenko, Andrei Ustinov • Changes in student body at Stanford • Researching Pasternak • Similarities between Pasternak and his own life • Bringing the Pasternak papers to Stanford • Highlights of the Pasternak papers • Pasternak conferences at Stanford • Takeaways from Pasternak’s work • Evolution of research interests • Russian avant-garde books and émigré literature • Russian literature and culture in Berlin and abroad • Family • Current work
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Extent | 1 text file |
| Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
| Date created | June 25, 2020 |
| Language | English |
| Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
| Interviewee | Fleĭshman, Lazarʹ | |
|---|---|---|
| Creator | Fleĭshman, Lazarʹ | |
| Interviewer | Frothingham, Emma | |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
| Subject | Fleĭshman, Lazarʹ |
|---|---|
| Subject | Stanford University. Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures |
| Subject | Pasternak, Boris Leonidovich, 1890-1960 |
| Subject | Slavists |
| Genre | Interview |
Bibliographic information
| Biographical Profile | Lazar Fleishman studied at a music school and the Music Academy in Riga, Latvia before graduating from Latvian State University in 1966. His first scholarly papers on Alexander Pushkin, the Russian elegy, and Boris Pasternak were published during his university years. He emigrated to Israel in 1974, where his academic career began at the Department for Russian Studies and the Department of Comparative Literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was co-founder and co-editor of the series Slavica Hierosolymitana: Slavic Studies of Hebrew University from 1977 to 1984. Fleishman’s research interests encompass the history of nineteenth and twentieth century Russian literature, especially Pushkin, Pasternak, and Russian modernism; poetics; literary theory; twentieth-century Russian history; Russian émigré literature, journalism and culture. He is the founder of the series Stanford Slavic Studies (1987-present), editor of the series Studies in Russian and Slavic Literatures and History (Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2007-present) and co-editor of the series Verbal Art: Studies in Poetics (Fordham, formerly Stanford University Press). |
|---|---|
| Audio |
|
| Finding Aid | |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/zr777hf0060 |
| Location | SC0932 |
| Repository | Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Collection
Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program interviews, 1999-2022
View other items in this collection in SearchWorksAlso listed in
Loading usage metrics...