This talk (in Russian without a translation) will strive to address the following issues:
Tolstoi: authorship and authority.
Why did Tolstoi thought of a writer's career as morally questionable, yet still chose to follow it?
Why did Tolstoi in his later years considered art to be a dangerous trifle, yet still engaged with it?
Why did Tolstoi in his later years tried to change the world, even though he believed this was impossible?
How was Tolstoi's critical attitude to Napoleon and other public authority figures linked to his self-definition as an author?
Where does Tolstoi stand in the history of confrontations between the author and the authorities in Russian culture?