Dorine Schellens is a cultural historian with expertise on contemporary Russian and German literature and culture. In addition, since Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine, she has been actively advocating for students and scholars who are at risk or have fled as a result of Russia's war or political repression. Her research focuses on representations of the future during the large-scale upheavals of the 1980s and 1990s in Russia and East Germany.

More information about Dorine Schellens

Fields of interest

• Russian literature and art under late socialism and post-socialism
• Contemporary German literature and culture
• Art and politics
• Cultural history and theory
• Supporting students and scholars at risk

Research

My research focuses on intersections between the cultural histories of Russia and Germany during the (late) twentieth and twentyfirst century. In examining these intersections, I am particularly interested in the question of how people turn to literature, art, and critical thought to reflect on and voice societal concerns about their past, present, and future.

Beyond Post-Communism: Imagining the Future in Times of Transition

From 2024 until 2028, I will work on my research project ‘Beyond Post-Communism: Imagining the Future in Times of Transition’, which is funded by NWO (Dutch Research Council, Veni funding scheme). Here is a short description: How did people across Eastern Europe imagine the future during the transitions of the 1980s and 1990s? The umbrella term ‘post-communism’ does not provide an answer to this question. This project explores how writers and cultural theorists saw the potential future of their societies from the era of perestroika until the late 1990s. By comparing Russia and Eastern Germany, this study maps the diverse future scenarios envisioned in the former communist region. By examining cultural reflections on transitions in the recent past, the project seeks to contribute to present-day societal debates about the urgency of imagining alternative futures.

The University of New Europe (UNE)

I am active in the team behind The University of New Europe (UNE), an NGO registered in the Netherlands. UNE is an academic solidarity network which builds critical knowledge about the impact of war, climate crisis, and other emergencies on education and research across Europe. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we provide support to students, scholars, and cultural workers at risk due to war violence or political repression. Via our public events and open access book series New Europes, we also promote collaboration and exchange between academics, students, activists, and the general public. Learn more about UNE on our website.

New volume: Reading Russian Literature, 1980–2024

Together with Dr. Otto Boele (Leiden University), I am an editor of the volume Reading Russian Literature, 1980–2024: Literary Consumption, Memory and Identity. This volume focuses on the nexus between literary consumption, memory and collective identity formation in Russia from the 1980s until today. It challenges perceived notions about the reduced social significance and identity-building potential of contemporary Russian literature. Drawing on a diverse set of primary source materials, ranging from memoirs, diaries and essays to fan art and BookToks, the collection seeks to do justice to the diversity of an enormous reading public that is often routinely referred to as the ‘Russian reader’.

PhD research: Kanonbildung im transkulturellen Netzwerk. Die Rezeptionsgeschichte des Moskauer Konzeptualismus aus deutsch-russischer Sicht (transcript Verlag, 2021)

How did a circle of Soviet artists and writers virtually unknown until perestroika turn into Russia’s most influential contemporary art movement? This book reconstructs the cultural history and canonization of a group of painters and poets known as the Moscow conceptualists, who paradoxically did not perceive themselves as a movement before their intense reception in the international and post-Soviet art world in the 1990s.

Today, Moscow conceptualism does not just figure prominently in art histories and museums, but also continues to inspire a new generation of Russian artists, ranging from the streetwear designer Gosha Rubchinskiy to the protest art collective Pussy Riot. This book retraces the reasons for the international popularity of this group by developing a new methodological framework that enables us to study canon formation as a transnational rather than national process. Combining insights from network theory, cultural transfer studies, and reception history, the analysis reconstructs the circulation of actors, artworks, and ideas in a transnational network across Russia, Europe and the US from the 1970s until today. By focusing on the migration and translation of knowledge between different cultures as well as areas of society such as the art scene, the museum world, and academia, the book offers a contribution to pressing debates on the need to rethink processes of canonization.

CV 

• 2019 – present Assistant professor at Leiden University
• 2015 – 2018 PhD candidate at the International Graduate School 1956: Cultural Transfer and Cultural Identity: Russian-German Contacts in the European Context, University of Freiburg/Russian State University for the Humanities (RGGU) in Moscow, summa cum laude.
• 2013 – 2015 Master of Arts in European Literatures and Cultures, University of Freiburg (summa cum laude)
• 2011 – 2012 Erasmus stay at the Free University of Berlin, Institute of German and Dutch Languages and Literatures (winter semester)
• 2010 – 2013 Bachelor of Arts in Russian Studies, Leiden University (cum laude)
• 2009 – 2013 Bachelor of Arts in German Language and Culture, Leiden University (cum laude)

Teaching activities 

I mainly teach in the BA German Language and Culture, BA International Studies (Russia and Eurasia), and MA Literary Studies.

Grants and awards

• 2024 NWO (Dutch Research Council) Veni grant for the research project ‘Beyond Post-Communism: Imagining the Future in Times of Transition’
• 2023 LUCAS Public Engagement Award
• 2023 Runner-up Gratama Science Award 2023
• 2015 – 2018 PhD position at the International Graduate School 1956: Cultural Transfer and Cultural Identity at the University of Freiburg/Russian State University for the Humanities (RGGU) in Moscow, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG)
• 2016 Alumni Award for MA thesis at the Faculty of Philology, University of Freiburg

Publications

Activities