From Theorist to Thinker: Encounter with Yuri Lotman under the Mentorship of Boris Egorov
Abstract
In this paper, which is largely personal and retrospective, the author shares his memories of his encounters with the works of Yuri Lotman and takes the opportunity for a reconsideration of his semiotics as a specific reflection on the history of Russia. Beginning with memories of the first encounter with Lotman's work more than thirty years ago in Korea, the author describes his experiences studying Lotman in Russia under the supervision of Professor Boris Fedorovich Egorov and, after returning to his native country, intensively exploring Lotman's last years (the so-called ‘Lotmanian explosion’). In particular, the author attempts to reconceptualize the intriguing concept of the ‘mechanism of Smuta’ that Lotman developed in his later years in terms of the "unpredictability of the past" and to highlight its profound implications for Lotman, who, the author argues, should be seen not only as a theorist but also as a (Russian) thinker.