How Americans Look at Russia - Summary

Wed Oct 17 17:03:33 UTC 2001

A small correction.  In this film, a young James Earl Jones plays a
member of the B-52 crew captained by the former rodeo rider Slim
Pickens.  The Russian ambassador is played, I believe, by the veteran
character actor Peter Bull, whose Russian is hardly native, but
better than that produced by most non-native actors during that
period.

>I enjoyed this interesting compilation of materials.  One significant addition
>to the Americans speaking Russian in films list: James Earl Jones,
>with a great
>deal of makeup on, as the Russian ambassador in Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove
>or how
>I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.  He does an admirable job, I
>think.
>
>Keith Meyer-Blasing
>Madison, WI
>
>
>At 06:05 PM 10/16/01 -0400, you wrote:
>>Dear colleagues,
>>
>>Some of you may still vaguely remember my request way back in June for
>>suggestions for materials to include in a lecture or course on how
>>Americans look at Russia.  At long last, here is the summary of responses
>>I received to this query.  Many thanks to Konstantin Kustanovich, Laurel
>>Schultz, Russell Valentino, and Olga Zatsepina for their contributions.
>>I've also included a short bibliography of sources I found that might be
>>of interest.  Since at this point I was only working on developing a
>>lecture on the topic, the bibliography is not all that extensive.  You
>>will notice that there is some crossover between how Americans look at
>>Russia and how Russians look at America.  If the unscientific compilation
>>I have created below sparks other ideas on the topic, please let me know!
>>
>>Best regards,
>>
>>Margarita Nafpaktitis
>>University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
>>
>>************************************************************************
>>
>>
>>Konstantin Kustanovich <konstantin.v.kustanovich at vanderbilt.edu> kindly
>>shared a unique resource:
>>
>>"As for American views of Russia, last year I took ten students to St.
>>Petersburg for a month to teach there a course on contemporary life
>>and culture. At the end I asked them to write papers answering
>>specific questions about Russia and Russians. I put these unedited
>>papers at the address below. You might find them interesting and
>>useful." (They really are wonderful reading! - MN)
>>http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/Germanic-Slavic/russian/Maymester2000.html
>>
>>
>>Laurel Schultz <lschultz at ix.netcom.com> recommended a "mean, funny, and
>>interesting" story called, "The Very Rigid Search," by Jonathan Safran
>>Foer in the June 18 &25, 2001 issue of the New Yorker for a cross-cultural
>>perspective.  The narrator is a Ukrainian who ends up as a guide for the
>>author, who is on a trip to Ukraine to find his roots.  But many of the
>>misunderstandings and stereotypes that the American author and the
>>Ukrainian narrator confront in this piece resonate with Russian culture as
>>well. [And it *is* very funny! -- MN]
>>
>>Russell Valentino <russell-valentino at uiowa.edu> riffed on this theme and
>  >came up with a rich mix of genres:
>  >
>  >* Aksyonov's In Search of Melancholy Baby
>  >* "Two British texts that nevertheless are part of American culture: A
>  >Clockwork Orange, which is chockfull of Russian slang, and Conrad's Heart
>>of Darkness in which the part of the harlequin (the nameless character
>>who survives in the jungle and whose book Marlowe finds before arriving at
>>Kurtz's jungle abode) is a Russian. In Coppola's adaptation for the screen
>>(Apocalypse Now), this is the part played by Dennis Hopper, though
>>unfortunately all the Russianness has disappeared."
>>
>>Then, I opened the can of worms and told Russell that I keep a list of
>>movies where famous film/TV stars speak Russian, and we bonded.  Here is
>>his list:
>>* "just about every James Bond movie has at least one (stereotyped) image
>>of Russia in it.   So many popular spy films and books do the same. Le
>>Carre comes to mind, as well as Tom Clancy."
>>*And then there are all those scenes in American movies where famous
>  >non-Russian actors speak Russian (even if they are not playing actual
>>Russians):
>>Sean Connery in The Hunt for Red October
>  >Pierce Brosnan says a few lines in the second James Bond film he did (I
>>think it's The World Is Not Enough).
>>Nicole Kidman and George Clooney both have lines in Russian in The
>>Peacemaker.
>>Michelle Pfeiffer plays a Russian and speaks a little in Russia House.
>>Val Kilmer speaks some Russian in The Saint, as does the now American
>>actor
>>Rade Serbedzija.
>>Lara Croft Tomb Raider, in which the heroine quips, "Kogo videt'?" to a
>>little girl.
>>Airforce One has lots.
>>He concludes, "The best and most Russian I've ever heard spoken by an
>>American actor is in a TV miniseries from the 1980s called The Winds of
>>War. Robert Mitchum goes
>>on for a good ten minutes in a speech to a bunch of Soviet diplomats. I
>>think I remember an interview he did in which he was asked about it and he
>>responded that actors are supposed to be able to do that kind of thing.
>>Too bad it's so rare."
>>
>>[My own additions to this include:
>>Sandra Bullock in the opening scenes of "Miss Congeniality" telling a
>>bunch of Russian Mafiosi to hit the floor
>>Kevin Costner in No Way Out
>>Arnold Schwarzenegger in Red Heat
>>John Cleese speaking pseudo-Russian in A Fish Called Wanda
>>Various episodes of the X-Files
>>
>>I have long wondered whether a compilation of these screen moments played
>>on continuous loop at student orientations might just get some of them
>>thinking about Russian?  If the Air Force can use Top Gun as a recruiting
>>tool...   -- MN]
>>
>>
>>Another category Russell has  explored is "American (and
>>Amero-Brit) film adaptations of Russian literature, as they say a lot
>>about
>>stereotyping and audience expectations. A few I have used (and would
>>recommend) are:  Anna Karenina (1) with Sophie Marceau in the title role,
>>(2) with Greta
>>Garbo, and (3) with Vivian Leigh. Students seem to like (1) best. It's
>>historically all mixed up, but is probably the most watchable today.
>>David Lean's Dr. Zhivago gave the balalaika more airtime than any other
>>American film ever.
>>In my opinion, Audrey Hepburn makes a better Natasha Rostova in the 1956
>>Hollywood War and Peace than does Bondarchuk's actress (whose name escapes
>>me) in the Soviet version.
>>Haven't yet watched the Onegin (with Ralph Feinnes and Liv Tyler), though
>>I plan to watch it this summer."
>>
>>
>>Olga Zatsepina <culturelink at worldnet.att.net> and her husband, who is a
>>psychologist, have written an article on how Russian students understand
>>American values, and "why they are so negative to them."  She said it's
>>available on their website: http://culturelinks.net/, and while I didn't
>>find it there, I did find their  article on Russian vs. American business
>>practices, which could also be useful. Her contact information is also on
>>the site, so you could get in touch with her directly if you're
>>specifically interested in the article she mentioned.
>>
>>
>>And here's the short bibliography that I came up with:
>>
>>Anschel, Eugene, ed. The American Image of Russia, 1775-1917. New York:
>>Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1974.
>>Anthology of primary sources, e.g., 14-year-old John Quincy Adams' essay
>>written about his trip to St. Petersburg in 1781-1782 while serving as
>>secretary and interpreter to the American diplomatic mission led by
>>Francis Dana.  Also, useful introduction and some period line drawings
>>from American periodicals.
>>
>>Barson, Michael and Steven Heller. Red Scared! The Commie Menace in
>>Propaganda and Popular Culture. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2001.
>>Sketchy narrative, no bibliography, but pages and pages of full-color
>>reproductions of lurid Cold War book jackets and movie posters.
>>
>>Dallek, Robert. "How We See the Soviets." In Shared Destiny: Fifty Years
>>of Soviet-American Relations. Ed. Mark Garrison and Abbott Gleason.
>>Boston: Beacon Press, 1985.
>>
>>Filene, Peter G., ed. American Views of Soviet Russia, 1917-1965.
>>Homewood, Ill.: Dorsey Press, 1968.
>>
>>Gaddis, John Lewis.  Russia, the Soviet Union, and the United States: An
>>Interpretive History. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990.
>  >
>>Grayson, Benson L., ed. The American Image of Russia, 1917-1977. New York:
>>Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1978.
>  >Anthology of primary sources, including, e.g., Langston Hughes' account of
>>"The Experiences of a Black Visitor" and Eleanor Roosevelt's essay, "I
>>Should Die If I Had to Live There."
>>
>>Laserson, Max M. The American Impact on Russia -- Diplomatic and
>>Ideological -- 1784-1917. New York: Macmillan, 1950.
>>
>>LaFeber, Walter. America, Russia, and the Cold War: 1945-1992.  7th ed.
>>New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993.
>>
>>Saul, Norman E. Concord and Conflict: The United States and Russia,
>>1867-1914. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1996.
>>Comprehensive history with many many primary sources cited in footnotes.
>>
>>Saul, Norman E. War and Revolution: The United States and Russia,
>>1917-1921. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2001.
>>Comprehensive history with many many primary sources cited in footnotes.
>>
>>Scott, John.  Behind the Urals: An American Worker in Russia's City of
>>Steel. Cambridge: Riverside Press, 1942.
>>
>>Steinbeck, John. A Russian Journal. With photographs by Robert Capa. New
>>York: Penguin, 1999.
>>
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--
Kenneth Brostrom
Assoc. Prof. of Russian
Dept. of German and Slavic Studies
443 Manoogian Hall
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI 48202
Telephone: (313) 577-6238
FAX (313) 577-3266
E-mail: kenneth.brostrom at wayne.edu

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