Elena Shalneva

Elena Shalneva writes about books, film, and culture. Her work has appeared in Standpoint, City AM, and the Article.

Twitter
7 Posts

Against Dilettantes

The reason these books endure and will be read long after the writers of littérature engagée harping on a string of fashionable social trends are ridiculed and forgotten, is their aesthetic impact.

Elena Shalneva

4 Mar 2021 · 8 min read

Postmodernism: Some Corrections and Clarifications

Compared to the titans of modernism, postmodernists—despite a handful of interesting thinkers like Barthes and Derrida—are no more than garden gnomes.

Elena Shalneva

18 Sep 2020 · 8 min read

In Defence of the Humanities

Scholars in the humanities are the bearers of the memory of civilisation, and their role in our society is indispensable.

Elena Shalneva

14 Jul 2020 · 8 min read

The Purpose of Imaginative Fiction

“What’s it about?” is usually the first question we ask when someone recommends a new book, and it’s the wrong question.

Elena Shalneva

27 Apr 2020 · 9 min read

That Elusive Feeling We Call Love

Love is irrational, intense and all-consuming—and we dream of being loved in return.

Elena Shalneva

22 Mar 2020 · 16 min read

The appeal of the material is very strong. But so will the rest of us one day regret living a manky, derivative life of office jobs and ignoring the fact that maybe there is something of Poe in each of us.

Elena Shalneva

30 Jan 2020 · 8 min read

‘Girls Need Female Role Models’ and Other Bromides

We all need role models. Role models can do wonders to our lives. But, please, let’s choose them for their qualities—not their gender.

Elena Shalneva

9 Dec 2019 · 6 min read

Elena Shalneva

Against Dilettantes

Postmodernism: Some Corrections and Clarifications

In Defence of the Humanities

The Purpose of Imaginative Fiction

That Elusive Feeling We Call Love

Work—the Tragedy of Our Age

‘Girls Need Female Role Models’ and Other Bromides