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Sergey Toymentsev, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Russian
Linguistics, Literatures and Cultures


Education

  • Ph.D., Comparative Literature, Rutgers University, 2014
  • Diploma of Specialist, Russian and English Languages and Literature, Kazan State University, Russia, 2000

Research Interests

  • Contemporary Russian Culture
  • Russian Cinema
  • Andrei Tarkovsky
  • Gilles Deleuze
  • Film-Philosophy
  • Memory Studies

Publications and Media Placements

Books in Progress

  • "From Matter to Thought: Towards a Deleuzian Taxonomy of Russian Film History"
  • "Mnemonic Hybrids in a Hybrid Regime: Remembering the Soviet Past in Putin’s Russia"
Edited Volumes
  • "Refocus: The Films of Andrei Tarkovsky" (Edinburgh University Press, February 2021)
  • "Refocus: The Films of Alexander Sokurov" (in preparation)

Selected Essays

  • “Introduction: Refocus on Tarkovsky” in Refocus: The Films of Andrei Tarkovsky (Edinburgh University Press, February 2021), 1-10.
  • “Does Tarkovsky Have a Film Theory?” in Refocus: The Films of Andrei Tarkovsky (Edinburgh University Press, February 2021), 46-63.
  • “Von Trier and Tarkovsky: From Antithesis to Counter-Sublime,” (co-authored with Anton Dolin) in Refocus: The Films of Andrei Tarkovsky (Edinburgh University Press, February 2021), 257-274.
  • “Avtoritarizm s chelovecheskim litsom: sovetsky geroi v postsovetskom baiopike” [“Authoritarianism with a Human Face: Soviet Hero in Post-Soviet Biopic”], Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, Vol. 165, 2020, 129-147.
  • “Retro-Future in Post-Soviet Dystopia,” CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, Vol. 21. 4, 2019
  • “The Crisis of the Soviet Action-Image: Towards a Deleuzian Taxonomy of Thaw Cinema,” New Europe College Yearbook, 2017-2018 (Pontica Magna Program): 135-164.
  • “Legal but Criminal: the Failure of the “Russian Nuremberg” and the Paradoxes of Post-Soviet Memory,” Comparative Literature Studies, Vol. 48. 3, 2011: 296- 319.
  • “'It could have all turned out differently': Ideological Censorship of the Marriage Plot in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park,” The AnaChronisT: Journal of English and American Studies, Fall 2011: 18-33.
  • “Active/Reactive Body in Deleuze and Foucault,” Journal of Philosophy: A Cross-Disciplinary Inquiry, Vol. 5:11, 2010: 44-56, ed. by Daniel Smith.

Book Reviews

  • “Review: Faire l'idiot: la politique de Deleuze by Philippe Mengue,” French Studies, Vol. 69. 2, 2015: 263-4.
  • “Review: Deleuze and Film: A Feminist Introduction by Teresa Rizzo,” Film Criticism, Vol. 38. 3, 2014: 75-8.
  • “Review Essay: Russia’s Historical Memory: Strict-Security or Hybrid?” Ab Imperio, 2/2013: 336-45.
  • “Review: Slovo v mire Andreya Tarkovskogo: Poėtika inoskazania by Mikhail Perepelkin,” Studies in Russian & Soviet Cinema, Vol. 7.3, 2013: 343-4.
  • “Review: Deleuze et le cinéma : L'armature philosophique des livres sur le cinema by Jean-Michel Pamart,” French Studies, Vol. 68.1, 2014: 127-8.
  • “Review: Andrei Tarkovsky’s Poetics of Cinema by Thomas Redwood,” Canadian Slavonic Papers, Vol. 56: 509-11.
  • “Review: New Philosophies of Film: Thinking Images by Robert Sinnerbrink,” Film Criticism, Vol. 37.1, 2012: 76-9.
  • “Review: Andrei Tarkovsky. Zvuchashii mir fil’ma by Natalia Kononenko,” Studies in Russian & Soviet Cinema, Vol. 6.3, 2012: 384-6.
  • “Review: Kinogermenevtika Tarkovskogo by Dmitrii Salynsky,” Studies in Russian & Soviet Cinema, Vol. 5.3, 2011: 413-14.
  • “Full-Length Portrait of Pynchon in Post-Soviet Frame,” Review of Thomas Pynchon and His America: Enigmas, Parallels, Cultural Contexts by Alexei Lalo, Pynchon Notes, 46–49 (2000–2001): 264–66.
Film Reviews
  • “Film Review: Johnny O’Reilly’s Moscow Never Sleeps (2015),” KinoKultura, Issue 58 (October), 2017.
  • “Film Review: Alena Semenova’s The Red Queen (2015),” KinoKultura, Issue 54 (October), 2016.
  • “Film Review: Aleksei German’s Under Electric Clouds (2015),” KinoKultura, Issue 50 (October), 2015.
  • “Film Review: Maria Saakyan’s Entropy (2012),” KinoKultura, Issue 43 (January), 2014.
  • “Film Review: Andrei Zaitsev’s The Layabouts (2011),” KinoKultura, Issue 38 (October), 2012.
  • “Film Review: Grigory Konstantinopolsky’s Pussycat (2009),” KinoKultura, Issue 31 (January), 2011.
Interviews
  • “The Eighties were the Russian Sixties: An Interview on Kirill Serebrennikov’s Leto with Lilly and Michael Idov,” Film International, Vol. 19. 2, 2021 (forthcoming)
  • “Heroes on the Edge: An Interview with Alexei Uchitel.” Film International, Dec 18, 2018: https://filmint.nu/?p=26311
  • “Ending the War in Perpetrator’s Clothes: Robert Shwentke on The Captain Film International, Sep 12, 2018: https://filmint.nu/?p=25641
  • “Uncovering the Katyn Massacre Cover-up: An Interview with Piotr Szkopiak on The Last Witness,” Film International, Jun 5, 2018: https://filmint.nu/?p=24705
  • “The Pulse of Russian City Life: An Interview with Johnny O’Reilly on Moscow Never Sleeps,” Film International, Sep 7, 2017: https://filmint.nu/?p=22164
  • “In Need of Russian Heroes: An Interview with Alexander Nevsky on Black Rose,” Film International, May 7, 2017: https://filmint.nu/?p=20889
  • “The Uncomfortable Polyphony of Being: An Interview with Aleksei German, Jr.” Film International, Vol. 14. 3, 2016: 150-60.

Honors and Awards

  • Swedish Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship, Södertörn University, The Centre for Baltic and East European Studies, 2019 (declined)
  • Pontica Magna Fellowship at New Europe College, Institute for Advanced Study, Bucharest, 2018
  • Junior Fellowship at Polish Institute of Advanced Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, 2017
  • 1st Graduate Essay Prize ($200) for the paper presented at the North East Slavic, East European & Eurasian Studies conference (NESEEES) Conference, 2011
  • Graduate Student Fellowship, Rutgers University, 2003 - 2007
  • Fulbright Research Fellowship, Washington State University, WA, 2002 – 2003
  • Regional Scholar Exchange Program Grant by IREX, 2002 (declined)
  • Junior Research Fellowship, Free University in Berlin, JFK Institute in North American and Canadian Studies, 2001
  • Medal awarded by the Russian Ministry of Education for the best student's essay, 2000

Professional Organizations and Associations

  • American Association for Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages
  • Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies