A cultural boycott of Russia plays into Putin’s hands

Has the cultural boycott of Russia gone too far? Events at an Italian university this week, where writer Paolo Nori claimed that a course on Dostoevsky was suspended following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, suggests so. 

‘Dear professor, the vice rector for didactics has informed me of a decision taken…to postpone the course on Dostoevsky,’ an email said, according to Nori’s video. ‘This is to avoid any controversy, especially internally, during a time of strong tensions.’

The college later backtracked, allowing Nori – author of ‘It still bleeds. The Incredible Life of Foyodor Dostoevsky’ – to continue teaching about the Russian author at the Bicocca University of Milan. But Nori was understandably upset. ‘I realise what is happening in Ukraine is horrible, and I feel like crying just thinking about it. But what is happening in Italy is ridiculous,’ he said. ‘Not only is being a living Russian wrong in Italy today, but also being a dead Russian, who was sentenced to death in 1849 because he read a forbidden thing.