truth or fiction?

[Andrew Jameson]

Come to that, what is the English word for non-fiction? We don't have a "word"
 any
more than the Russians do! We define by using a negative.
The "problem" lies in the fact that English standard usage ascribes the meaning
belletristika to the word literature. Russian uses "literatura" for all forms of
 printed
and written communication, and our students take a while to get used to this.
Andrew Jameson
Chair, Russian Committee, ALL
Languages and Professional Development
1 Brook Street, Lancaster LA1 1SL UK
Tel: 01524 32371  (+44 1524 32371)

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From: Alexey I. Fuchs <c0654038 at techst02.technion.ac.il>
To: SEELANGS at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Re: truth or fiction?
Date: 22 December 1999 10:45

> What, indeed, is the Russian word for "non-fiction"? Seems so simple,

I suggest a division of general "non-fiction" into different classes in
Russian.
The first word that comes to my mind is "byl'", which is usually put as a
sub-title for a story and meant to say that the events described actually
took place. This is hardly appropriate for any other usage.
One can define "non-fiction" as
"dokumental'naya/technicheskaya/uchebnaya literatura" etc.

In my humble opinion.

                                                                Alexey