Russian Area Studies

[Lynne deBenedette]

Much after the fact, but...

Apropos the suggestion of русист 'rusist' and славист 'slavist' to describe
students of what we call “Russian Area Studies” or “Russian and East
European Studies.”  I agree that  страноведение ‘stranovedenie’ is a dated
term that does not suggest the depth or range of knowledge we associate with
‘area studies’; however, like any other translation of an American major
into Russian, русистика/славистика (rusistika/slavistika) both fail to
convey to a Russian unfamiliar with our system what ‘area studies’ implies
about the range of departments and courses that are part of the program.
One can say this about many majors; still, a математик is clearly someone
who does coursework in math; a социолог in soc., etc.  It is not my
impression that русистика/славистика in Russian are used to describe the
range of interdisciplinary work we think of as area studies, and the native
speakers I’ve asked (all Slavists, filologi) have agreed.  I’d appreciate
any comments from other native speakers about this.

Thanks...
Lynne
-- 
Lynne deBenedette
Senior Lecturer in Russian
Brown University / Slavic Languages
20 Manning Walk, Box E
Providence, RI 02912
tel 401-863-7572 or 401-863-2689
fax 401-863-7330
lynne_debenedette at brown.edu
FALL 2002 Office Hours Tue 1-2.30, Wed 3.30-5

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                  http://home.attbi.com/~lists/seelangs/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------