Episode 10.5: ‘Vita Nostra’ by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko
Translated by Julia Meitov Hersey
‘Vita Nostra’ has lingered on our masterlist of dark academia titles since the conception of The Dark Academicals and after we tackled a novel about translation in season nine, it felt only right to tackle a novel that has been translated, and the beloved ‘Vita Nostra’ was the answer.
With reviews promising a novel as strange as it is beautiful, we couldn’t wait to get stuck in.
Our life is brief . . .
Sasha Samokhina has just met Farit Kozhenikov and her life will never be the same again.
Whilst on holiday, Sasha is asked by the mysterious Farit to undertake a strange task for him. Reluctantly, she obliges, and is rewarded with a shining golden coin. The more tasks she performs, the more coins Sasha receives until Farit instructs her – against the wishes of her family – to travel to a remote village and use her gold to gain entrance to the Institute of Special Technologies.
Sasha quickly discovers this is no ordinary school. The books are impossible to read, the lessons obscure to the point of maddening, and the knowledge itself refuses to be remembered. Despite this, Sasha undergoes changes that defy matter and time; with experiences that are nothing like what she could have dreamed of before… but which are suddenly all she could ever want.
But this learning comes at a cost. The school uses terror and coercion to keep students in line: should they transgress at all, their families pay a terrible price…
A complex blend of adventure, magic, science, and philosophy, expressed through a distinctly Russian voice, this astonishing story will transport the reader to a place far beyond imagining.
How does it hold up to the traditions of dark academia? How does the act of translation change, influence or shape what we look for in a dark academia novel?
In this episode we discuss:
Translation and the written word
The perception and reception of Dark Academia (publishing trends vs genre categorisations)
What did it all mean?
You can listen to it here:
TEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
‘Vita Nostra’ by Marina Sergey Dyachenko
‘Babel’ by RF Kuang
‘The Centre’ by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi
‘An Academy for Liars’ by Alexis Henderson
‘Red Sparrow’ by Jason Matthews
‘Gothikana’ by RuNyx
OTHER MEDIA AND POP CULTURE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
‘Married at First Sight Australia’
‘Severance’
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