Contemporary Russian Literature

[Edward Dumanis]

Hanya Krill wrote:

> At 04:09 PM 11/5/98 -0500, you wrote:
> >-Very true! Ethnical classification would also exclude such Russian writers
> >and poets as Bulat Okudzhava, Fasil' Iskander, Chingiz Aitmatov, Bakhyt
> >Kenzheev -- and many others.
> >Vlentina Zaitseva
>
> Are these "Russian writers and poets" or are they "writers and poets who
> wrote in Russian?"  Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian writer/poet/artist, also
> wrote many works in the Russian language.
>
> ****************************
> Hanya Krill
> akrill at shiva.hunter.cuny.edu
> ****************************

So, what?
What is your problem?
Don't you think that the same person can be both Russian and Ukrainian writer,
poet and so on?
The very concept of classification is not absolute; it is always done in a
certain paradigm and has no sense out of it.
It is ridiculous to grasp a term from one paradigm (like Russian literature) and
criticize it from another paradigm (geo-political, for example).
It won't surprise you to see different things observing the SAME object from
different locales.  So, one can legitimately measure contributions of the same
person to different literatures.  Then it is possible to conclude that Taras
Grigorievich Shevchenko is a great Ukrainian writer, and so on, but relatively
minor a Russian one.  My guess is that you would switch these characteristics
for Nikolay Vasilievich Gogol.  I think that on the threshold of the XXI century
we can free ourselves from the old stereotypes, and see the people for what they
really are in the whole variety and complexity of different paradigms.  Just be
sure that your interlocutors know what you are talking about.
At the same time, don't be humiliated if an apostle in one of your favorite
paradigms would fall very low in another paradigm.  I think that the examples
are plenty  (regarding Shevchenko, do you think that his anti-Semitic and
anti-Polish convictions diminish his role as possibly the greatest Ukrainian
poet?).  German fascists excluded Heinrich Heine from German literature, Russian
ultra-nationalists exclude A. S. Pushkin (who is, according to some of them,
just an African writer who wrote in Russian) as well as Bulat Okudzhava, Fasil'
Iskander and Chingiz Aitmatov from Russian literature.
Be sure you know in what company you are.

Edward Dumanis <dumanis at acsu.buffalo.edu>