Jókai Mór's Bicentennial - Presentation by Professor Anna Barker
When: 6 pm, Friday, May 16, 2025
Where: Kossuth House, 2001 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC
RSVP at rsvp@kossuthfoundation.org
On February 18, 2025, fans of Hungarian literature and culture celebrated the bicentennial of Hungary's greatest 19th century novelist, Jókai Mór (1825-1904). As prolific as Dickens, Balzac, and Tolstoy, Jókai dedicated over 80 volumes to the exploration of Hungarian culture. Professor Barker's presentation is dedicated to her Hungarian roots and her Hungarian father's lifelong interest in history and explores the bewildering complexities of Hungary's past. The presentation also discusses the Hungarian cultural revival in the aftermath of the catastrophic defeat of the Revolution of 1848
About the presenter:
A native speaker of Russian and Hungarian, Professor Barker completed her PhD in Comparative Literature and Translation Studies at the University of Iowa in 2002. She teaches courses on 19th-century Russian and European literature, history, and culture and publishes a monthly Iowa City Press-Citizen column entitled "Anna's Thinking Cap, " dedicated to Iowa's history and the Napoleonic period.
A 2011-2014 Research Fellow at the University of Iowa Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, Professor Barker has given presentations on Russian literature and translation at numerous conferences, including at Yasnaya Polyana, the Tolstoy Literary Estate and Museum, Tula Region, Russia. In 2021 she initiated a Russian literature lecture series, "Russian Literary Journeys with Anna," at the Minneapolis Museum of Russian Art. She is looking forward to giving a presentation on the depiction of Napoleon in literature at the International Napoleonic Society conference in Paris, France in July, 2025.
In collaboration with the University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections, Professor Barker curated the exhibits "Goya's Disasters of War and Tolstoy's War and Peace: A Dialogue Between Art and Literature" (2019) and "From Revolutionary Outcast to a Man of God: Dostoevsky at 200" (2021). The Dostoevsky exhibit attracted over 5,000 visitors.
Her 2024-2026 Substack commentary focuses on the works of Dostoevsky (Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons), Dumas (The Three Musketeers and its sequels), and Jókai Mór (The Heartless Man's Sons or A kőszívű ember fiai and The Golden Age In Transylvania or Erdély aranykora).
Professor Barker's upcoming publications include "13 Notes from Napoleon, Iowa: Musings on the Edge of the French Empire" (2025) and "Twenty Tales from Tolstoy: For the Young and the Young at Heart" (2028), both from Ice Cube Press.
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