Pushkin is with us

How would Pushkin live if he were our contemporary? Here's how: he would take selfies and skateboard, buy groceries from a list in a supermarket, and rock out at concerts. He would discuss plots with Gogol at the bar, and type out immortal lines on a laptop keyboard. This is the image of Pushkin presented in a series of funny drawings by Evgenia Dvoskina, each accompanied by a quote from the classic's works. Pushkiniana emerged during Pushkin's lifetime and gradually acquired new qualities in the 20th century. Pushkin became a cultural hero not only of "serious" literature but also of anecdotes and sayings, and later comics and memes. And it's not surprising: the poet himself loved to joke about himself and enjoyed caricatures. Dvoskina's sketches fit organically into this tradition — Pushkin would have liked it.