Recently, Li Zhengrong, professor of the School of Chinese Language and Literature of Beijing Normal University, deputy dean of the Institute of Intercultural Studies, and director of the Christian Literature and Art Research Center, gave a lecture entitled The Problem of 'Infatuation' in Modern and Contemporary Russian Literature at the Liangzheng Hall of the College of Foreign Languages of Nankai University. About 50 teachers and students from the Russian department attended the lecture.
Professor Li Zhengrong started with three questions on how to read theoretical texts, how to find theoretical texts, and how to use theoretical texts creatively. He pointed out that in the official language genre of the Soviet Union, Bakhtin’s theory was born, which shocked the world’s literary theorists. By reviewing Bakhtin's important part of the thesis defense at the Institute of World Literature of the USSR Academy of Sciences on November 15, 1946, Ms. Li explained in an exhaustive way what is the Infatuation of the Soviet litterateurs under the official discourse of the Soviet Union. In Bakhtin's defense, the elder scholar Derenvievov evaluated Bakhtin with Infatuation, indicating that he appreciated the Infatuation that a true scholar must have. In the end, Li Zhengrong pointed out that the spirit of Infatuation is what the real scholars should master like Bakhtin.
Professor Li Zhengrong explained the deep connotation of Russian “Infatuation” to the teachers and students with a unique perspective, and led everyone to realize that in the whole modern and contemporary Russian literature, this kind of “Infatuation” widely exists.
