Solzhenitsyn's Greatness

Dr. Daniel Mahoney

Professor of Political Science, Assumption College.

 

Mr. Mahoney explored the historical, philosophical, and literary greatness inherent Solzhenitsyn's two great works The Gulag Archipelago and The Red Wheel.The Russian Nobel Laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) was one of the most consequential figures of the twentieth century. His writings and moral witness played a major role in undermining the legitimacy of the entire Communist enterprise. No one can doubt his remarkable courage and tenacity. While debates(and misunderstandings) swirl around many of his publicistic statements (like his 1978 Harvard Address), his greatness is most evident in two monumental "literary cathedrals", as French Slavist Georges Nivat has called them, The Gulag Archipelago and The Red Wheel. The first provides definitive critique of Communist totalitarianism, the second explains how Russia succumbed to the Soviet tragedy in the first place.

Dr. Mahoney's talk was held in the Qualia Room, Foreign Language Building (CMLL) at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX on February 17, 2016.