For now, a reading log.

I think I will just take note here of what I read that might be vaguely relevant to research and learning, because it would probably be a good place to serve as that sort of repository.

Tempest, Richard. "The Young Pushkin and Chaadaev" in Issues in Russian Literature Before 1917 (Slavica 1989). Slavic Library, Building 240.

Not much to say here except I should probably start looking into what exact political questions the Russian intelligentsia concerned itself with in the beginning of the 19th century, and it might be helpful to find a biography of Pushkin at some point. If I had even heard of Chaadaev before reading this article, I might have more insights, though the author references a work of his (Philosophical Letters) in which Chaadaev "declared that, in a sense, his country did not exist," which frankly sounds rather intriguing (58). To what extent did Chaadaev serve as an influence on Pushkin? This is something to keep in mind when reading Evgenii Onegin next month. I will need to look up some more about the Napoleonic wars and serfdom at some point.