Recognition and Critical Reception
Alexander Vladimirovich Chantsev (born 7 February 1978, Lusaka) is a Russian literary scholar and Japanologist, critic, prose writer and cultural essayist. He holds a PhD in Philology.
Since 2020 he has served as consultant and contributor (author of dictionary entries) to the project Dictionary of 21st-Century Culture.
His writings have been translated into Japanese (including publication in Waseda Bungaku and Rosia Tsushin), English, Serbian and other languages. He is a member of PEN International, the Association of Japanologists, and an international expert with the IAEA. He also serves on the editorial board of Druzhba Narodov. At present he is active in the field of Russian–Japanese business diplomacy, as Adviser to the Chairman of the Russian–Japanese Business Council and Adviser to the Chairman of the Board of the R-Pharm International Group of Companies.
His writings have been translated into Japanese (including publication in Waseda Bungaku and Rosia Tsushin), English, Serbian and other languages. He is a member of PEN International, the Association of Japanologists, and an international expert with the IAEA. He also serves on the editorial board of Druzhba Narodov. At present he is active in the field of Russian–Japanese business diplomacy, as Adviser to the Chairman of the Russian–Japanese Business Council and Adviser to the Chairman of the Board of the R-Pharm International Group of Companies.
Chantsev is also a winner of the 2025 All-Russian Literary Criticism Prize “Neistovyi Vissarion” (“Furious Vissarion”).
Critics have described him as “a phenomenon”, noting his distinctive intellectual integrity, his encyclopaedic breadth combined with a highly individual voice, and his commitment to non-conformism. His work has been praised for its clarity of ethical stance, its capacity to bring neglected or marginal cultural figures into sharper focus, and its ongoing dialogue with such figures as Yukio Mishima, Emil Cioran, Ernst Jünger, Antonin Artaud and others.
Critics have described him as “a phenomenon”, noting his distinctive intellectual integrity, his encyclopaedic breadth combined with a highly individual voice, and his commitment to non-conformism. His work has been praised for its clarity of ethical stance, its capacity to bring neglected or marginal cultural figures into sharper focus, and its ongoing dialogue with such figures as Yukio Mishima, Emil Cioran, Ernst Jünger, Antonin Artaud and others.
Chantsev has received wide recognition both as a scholar and as a critic and essayist. He has been a finalist and laureate of numerous literary and academic prizes, among them the Voloshin International Literary Prize (2008), the Novy Mir Prize (2011), the Andrei Bely Prize (2020), and the Druzhba Narodov Prize (2021). His monograph The Revolt of Beauty (2009), devoted to the works of Yukio Mishima and Eduard Limonov, was included in the Top 25 Non-Fiction Books of the Yearby NG ExLibris.
He has also won a series of essay competitions organised by Novy Mir, dedicated to the anniversaries of Mikhail Bulgakov, Andrei Platonov, Ivan Bunin, Nikolai Gumilev and Marina Tsvetaeva.
He has also won a series of essay competitions organised by Novy Mir, dedicated to the anniversaries of Mikhail Bulgakov, Andrei Platonov, Ivan Bunin, Nikolai Gumilev and Marina Tsvetaeva.
Chantsev is a regular contributor to Novy Mir and Novoe Literaturnoe Obozrenie, was a columnist for Chastny Korrespondent and Rara Avis. Open Criticism, and the author of the “non-fiction Pro” column in Druzhba Narodov. His works have also appeared in Neprikosnovenny Zapas, Oktyabr, Lechaim, Voprosy Literatury, Russkaya Proza, and on such platforms as Peremeny, Booknik.ru, Topos, Yaponsky Zhurnal, Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, Vzglyad, NG Ex Libris, Knizhnoe Obozrenie, as well as in Forbes, Pushkin, and many other outlets. He continues to publish regularly in Novy Mir, Druzhba Narodov, Znamya, and on such portals as Peremeny, Year of Literature, Li-terra-tura, Gorky, Textura, Post(non)fiction, GlagoL, Colta, Formaslov, Degusta, in the “Science” section of Uchitelskaya Gazeta, and elsewhere.
Chantsev graduated from the humanities stream of Moscow Gymnasium No. 1567 and went on to complete his BA and MA’s studies with distinction, followed by doctoral research at the Philological Department of the Institute of Asian and African Studies, Moscow State University. He also undertook a period of study at Ryukoku University in Kyoto, a leading Buddhist institution. His doctoral thesis was devoted to the aesthetics of Yukio Mishima. He has worked as a translator from Japanese and English for Japanese organisations (the Japan Center and the Japan Foundation), and as coordinator of Japanese programmes at the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC), an intergovernmental organisation.
BIOGRAPHY
Рус
Collective Editions
Lebedev, A., ed. Vita Sovietica: Neakademicheskii slovar’-inventar’ sovetskoi tsivilizatsii (Vita Sovietica: A Non-Academic Inventory Dictionary of Soviet Civilization). Moscow: Avgust, 2012.
ISBN 978-5-904065-05-8.
Sid, I., ed. Slovar’ kul’tury XXI veka: Pervoe priblizhenie (Daigest pervogo toma Slovarya) (Dictionary of 21st-Century Culture: First Approximation [Digest of the First Volume of the Dictionary]). Khapur: Kie Publication, 2020. 196 pp.
ISBN 978-93-81623-87-9.
Sid, I., ed.; Rudnev, V., scientific editor; editorial board: A. Brazhkina, S. Gintsburg, A. Dzhanvidzhai, I. Satanovskii; Laboratoriia cheloveka i kul’tury XXI veka (Laboratory of the 21st-Century Human and Culture). Slovar’ kul’tury XXI veka: Global’naya seria. T. 1 (Dictionary of 21st-Century Culture: Global Series. Vol. 1). Moscow: Institut perevoda: Tsentr knigi Rudomino, 2022.
ISBN 978-5-00087-203-1.
ISBN 978-5-904065-05-8.
Sid, I., ed. Slovar’ kul’tury XXI veka: Pervoe priblizhenie (Daigest pervogo toma Slovarya) (Dictionary of 21st-Century Culture: First Approximation [Digest of the First Volume of the Dictionary]). Khapur: Kie Publication, 2020. 196 pp.
ISBN 978-93-81623-87-9.
Sid, I., ed.; Rudnev, V., scientific editor; editorial board: A. Brazhkina, S. Gintsburg, A. Dzhanvidzhai, I. Satanovskii; Laboratoriia cheloveka i kul’tury XXI veka (Laboratory of the 21st-Century Human and Culture). Slovar’ kul’tury XXI veka: Global’naya seria. T. 1 (Dictionary of 21st-Century Culture: Global Series. Vol. 1). Moscow: Institut perevoda: Tsentr knigi Rudomino, 2022.
ISBN 978-5-00087-203-1.
Vremia tsikad (The Time of Cicadas). USA: Franc-tireur/Lulu, 2008.
ISBN 978-0-5570-0836-0. 124 p.
Bunt krasoty: Estetika Yukio Mishimy i Eduarda Limonova (The Revolt of Beauty: The Aesthetics of Yukio Mishima and Eduard Limonov). Moscow: Agraf, 2009.0
ISBN 978-5-7784-0386-4. 192 p.
Literatura 2.0: stat’i o knigakh (Literature 2.0: Essays on Books). Moscow: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2011.
ISBN 978-5-86793-859-8. 488 р.
Vremia tsikad [Revisited] (The Time of Cicadas [Revisited]). USA: Franc-tireur/Lulu, 2012.
ISBN 978-1-300-20889-1. 178 р.
Kogda ryby vstrechaiut ptits: liudi, knigi, kino. Sbornik esse (When Fish Meet Birds: People, Books, Cinema. A Collection of Essays). Sankt-Peterburg: Aletheia, 2015.
ISBN 978-5-906792-32-7. 696 р.
Granitsa Zatsepina: kniga stran i puteshestvii. Sbornik esse (The Zatsepin Frontier: A Book of Countries and Travels. A Collection of Essays). Sankt-Peterburg: Aletheia, 2016.
ISBN 978-5-906823-41-0. 334 р.
Zheltyi Angus. Sbornik rasskazov (TheYellow Angus. A Collection of Short Stories). Moscow: ArsisBooks, 2018.
ISBN 978-5-904155-74-2. 232 р.
Izhitsy na siurtuke iz snov: knizhnaia piatiletka (Epsilons on a Frock Coat of Dreams: A Five-Year Book Plan). Sankt-Peterburg: Aletheia, 2020. 724 p.
ISBN 978-5-00165-146-8. 724 р.
Dukhi dlia robotov i manekenov (Perfumes for Robots and Mannequins). Moscow; Sankt-Peterburg: T8 Izdatel’skie Tekhnologii / Palmira, 2023. (‘Palmira — Prose’ series).
ISBN 978-5-517-09617-3. 279 р.
Bunt krasoty: Estetika Yukio Mishimy i Eduarda Limonova. Izd. 2-e, ispr. i dop. (The Revolt of Beauty: The Aesthetics of Yukio Mishima and Eduard Limonov. 2nd ed., rev. and enl.). Moscow; Sankt-Peterburg: T8 Izdatel’skie Tekhnologii / Palmira, 2024.
(‘Literature and Art’ series).
ISBN 978-5-517-10767-1. 326 р.
ISBN 978-0-5570-0836-0. 124 p.
Bunt krasoty: Estetika Yukio Mishimy i Eduarda Limonova (The Revolt of Beauty: The Aesthetics of Yukio Mishima and Eduard Limonov). Moscow: Agraf, 2009.0
ISBN 978-5-7784-0386-4. 192 p.
Literatura 2.0: stat’i o knigakh (Literature 2.0: Essays on Books). Moscow: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2011.
ISBN 978-5-86793-859-8. 488 р.
Vremia tsikad [Revisited] (The Time of Cicadas [Revisited]). USA: Franc-tireur/Lulu, 2012.
ISBN 978-1-300-20889-1. 178 р.
Kogda ryby vstrechaiut ptits: liudi, knigi, kino. Sbornik esse (When Fish Meet Birds: People, Books, Cinema. A Collection of Essays). Sankt-Peterburg: Aletheia, 2015.
ISBN 978-5-906792-32-7. 696 р.
Granitsa Zatsepina: kniga stran i puteshestvii. Sbornik esse (The Zatsepin Frontier: A Book of Countries and Travels. A Collection of Essays). Sankt-Peterburg: Aletheia, 2016.
ISBN 978-5-906823-41-0. 334 р.
Zheltyi Angus. Sbornik rasskazov (TheYellow Angus. A Collection of Short Stories). Moscow: ArsisBooks, 2018.
ISBN 978-5-904155-74-2. 232 р.
Izhitsy na siurtuke iz snov: knizhnaia piatiletka (Epsilons on a Frock Coat of Dreams: A Five-Year Book Plan). Sankt-Peterburg: Aletheia, 2020. 724 p.
ISBN 978-5-00165-146-8. 724 р.
Dukhi dlia robotov i manekenov (Perfumes for Robots and Mannequins). Moscow; Sankt-Peterburg: T8 Izdatel’skie Tekhnologii / Palmira, 2023. (‘Palmira — Prose’ series).
ISBN 978-5-517-09617-3. 279 р.
Bunt krasoty: Estetika Yukio Mishimy i Eduarda Limonova. Izd. 2-e, ispr. i dop. (The Revolt of Beauty: The Aesthetics of Yukio Mishima and Eduard Limonov. 2nd ed., rev. and enl.). Moscow; Sankt-Peterburg: T8 Izdatel’skie Tekhnologii / Palmira, 2024.
(‘Literature and Art’ series).
ISBN 978-5-517-10767-1. 326 р.
Author’s Editions
Critical Responses to Chantsev’s Work
«Now, when genuine creative activity has become an honest and strictly private matter, the marginals and transgressive eccentrics whom the author of Izhitsy has championed since his school years (a special tribute for his ‘fidelity to himself’) are becoming true cultural heroes. Thanks, not least, to the younger modernists — among whom Alexander Chantsev stands in the foremost ranks.»
Dmitry Bavilsky, «The Master Class of an Artist in His Maturity», Literratura, 16 January 2021
«In terms of his formal cultural niche, Chantsev is a literary scholar and Japanologist, a writer and a critic. His knowledge is alarmingly vast. Yet it is not the detached, placid knowledge of an encyclopaedist: he manages to embrace it with a probing, synthesising, ordering attention - partial, selective, deeply engaged. In this sense, he is no encyclopaedist at all; another definition is required for this mode of cultural participation. Chantsev possesses a particular ethics of utterance. He prefers to speak through the words of others, about others, in reflected light: through reviews, interviews, commentaries… It may appear as though he avoids developing or proclaiming a personal theory of cultural processes, contenting himself with the stance of an attentive observer. Nothing could be further from the truth: this is precisely what he is engaged in, even as he maintains the observer’s position — and his system of values is articulated with striking, even austere clarity.»
Olga Balla, «Being Chantsev», Li-terra-tura, 19 May 2015
«The simplest way to put it is that Chantsev is a phenomenon. … His spinal nerve is non-conformism. This spirit resonates in his reviews of books on Pasolini, films by Aristakisyan, studies on Daniil Andreev. … Salman Rushdie, by contrast, is reproached for conformism. … Alas, there are few comrades-in-arms. And in our spurious postmodern times, one may say of Alexander himself what he once said in a review of Evgeny Golovin’s book: ‘a knightly service to the void’.»
Andrei Bychkov, «Disinterested Negativity», Preface to «When Fish Meet Birds»
«Chantsev practises a self-portraying samurai path in literature. His word remains always true to itself - to a laconic encyclopaedism, a precise technique, close to pointillism, of mastering a book. Cioran, Celan, Limonov… all, in Chantsev’s rendering, become ample and transformed, unlike themselves yet recognisable in the minutiae of their biographies and the tomes that season the text with the fastidiousness of a sensei obsessed with perfection.»
Olga Devsh, «The Sharp Crackle of Running Lines», Degusta.ru, December 2020
«He has absolutely no interest in what is ‘conventional’ or ‘conformist’, in the accepted and reassuring; on the contrary, he is drawn to all that resists it: the margins of culture rather than its centre; the overlooked, the awkward, the ‘strange’, the rejected by the notional majority. For him, non-conformism is significant not (only) as a mode of cultural labour, but more broadly as a human stance - an ultimate honesty, which cannot but be accompanied by destructiveness and self-destruction, even to the point of complete and serious annihilation. Hence his attraction to, for example, Antonin Artaud, Jim Morrison, Egor Letov, Yukio Mishima, and perhaps his most vital inner interlocutor of all, Emil Michel Cioran.»
Olga Balla, Speech at the Andrei Bely Prize Ceremony, 28 December
Dmitry Bavilsky, «The Master Class of an Artist in His Maturity», Literratura, 16 January 2021
«In terms of his formal cultural niche, Chantsev is a literary scholar and Japanologist, a writer and a critic. His knowledge is alarmingly vast. Yet it is not the detached, placid knowledge of an encyclopaedist: he manages to embrace it with a probing, synthesising, ordering attention - partial, selective, deeply engaged. In this sense, he is no encyclopaedist at all; another definition is required for this mode of cultural participation. Chantsev possesses a particular ethics of utterance. He prefers to speak through the words of others, about others, in reflected light: through reviews, interviews, commentaries… It may appear as though he avoids developing or proclaiming a personal theory of cultural processes, contenting himself with the stance of an attentive observer. Nothing could be further from the truth: this is precisely what he is engaged in, even as he maintains the observer’s position — and his system of values is articulated with striking, even austere clarity.»
Olga Balla, «Being Chantsev», Li-terra-tura, 19 May 2015
«The simplest way to put it is that Chantsev is a phenomenon. … His spinal nerve is non-conformism. This spirit resonates in his reviews of books on Pasolini, films by Aristakisyan, studies on Daniil Andreev. … Salman Rushdie, by contrast, is reproached for conformism. … Alas, there are few comrades-in-arms. And in our spurious postmodern times, one may say of Alexander himself what he once said in a review of Evgeny Golovin’s book: ‘a knightly service to the void’.»
Andrei Bychkov, «Disinterested Negativity», Preface to «When Fish Meet Birds»
«Chantsev practises a self-portraying samurai path in literature. His word remains always true to itself - to a laconic encyclopaedism, a precise technique, close to pointillism, of mastering a book. Cioran, Celan, Limonov… all, in Chantsev’s rendering, become ample and transformed, unlike themselves yet recognisable in the minutiae of their biographies and the tomes that season the text with the fastidiousness of a sensei obsessed with perfection.»
Olga Devsh, «The Sharp Crackle of Running Lines», Degusta.ru, December 2020
«He has absolutely no interest in what is ‘conventional’ or ‘conformist’, in the accepted and reassuring; on the contrary, he is drawn to all that resists it: the margins of culture rather than its centre; the overlooked, the awkward, the ‘strange’, the rejected by the notional majority. For him, non-conformism is significant not (only) as a mode of cultural labour, but more broadly as a human stance - an ultimate honesty, which cannot but be accompanied by destructiveness and self-destruction, even to the point of complete and serious annihilation. Hence his attraction to, for example, Antonin Artaud, Jim Morrison, Egor Letov, Yukio Mishima, and perhaps his most vital inner interlocutor of all, Emil Michel Cioran.»
Olga Balla, Speech at the Andrei Bely Prize Ceremony, 28 December
