Claude Carey has research interests in 19th and 20th century Russian Literature, and Russian Language.
My current research interests are in Orientalism in Russian and Soviet literature. I am pursuing research on Russian and Soviet writers' perception of the East (particularly the Caucasus and Central Asia). In this regard, I have substantially contributed towards the publication of a book on narratives dealing with the conquest of the Caucasus by Russia during the 1850s, edited by Claudine Hermann. I also plan to annotate and write an extensive introduction to Tolstoy's Hadji Murat. This text treats the war of conquest against Imam Shamyl by Tsar Nicholas I. Related to this, a chapter in my forthcoming book on Louis Aragon is dedicated to writers from Central Asian and the Caucasus.
I am furthermore interested in the area of the literatures of the former Soviet Central Asian Republics. I am particularly interested in the influence of Russian and Western literature, as well as of the Koran and oral epics, on non-Russian writers from the Islamic republics of the former Soviet Union writing in Russian. I am particularly interested in the works of Aitmatov (Kyrgyzstan), Iskander (Abkhazia), and Mirsaid Sultan-Galiev (Tatarstan)—prominent examples of successful bilingual writers.
In addition, I am focusing on the works of African-American authors who have traveled and lived in the Soviet Union and their influence on the civil rights movement in the United States. I have given emphasis on the influence of Communism in the 1920-30s in Harlem and the role of African Americans in the American Communist Party as expressed in their writings.
I have completed a grammar on Russian verbs for fourth-year students. As yet there is no comprehensive treatment of Russian verbs for advanced students of Russian.
