Khrushchev's words and his shoe banging

[Edward M Dumanis]

I am surprised if there was no banging. Not just because I have never
heard about brandishing a shoe, but because there is no meaning that could
be associated with brandishing a shoe in the Russian culture. As to
banging, then it is simply a way of interruption.
Did Khrushchev mean to bang using his shoe but used only his hand?
The idea was to make a loud noise, and the shoe would be a better tool,
and we know that it was in (the) hand. So, logically, brandishing a shoe
does not sound right; however, the facts often do not follow any logic.

Regarding Natalia Samoilova's comment on Khrushchev's interpretation of
kuz'kina mat' expression, I think that it is correct. My understanding is
that it simply means that somebody plans to show much more than was ever
expected from him/her, and to be proud of it. This does not exclude that
"more" might mean something quite threatening.

Sincerely,

Edward Dumanis <dumanis at buffalo.edu>



On Wed, 7 May 2003, Jane A. Taubman wrote:

> I am posting the following on behalf of  Bill Taubman, who has been
> following the SEELANGS discussion with interest and occasional amusement:
>
>     As it happens, the very first, and one of the longest "foot" notes
> in my biography of Khrushchev, (note #1 to the Preface, which appears on
> p. 657) is devoted to the infernal question of whether Khrushchev banged
> his shoe at the United Nations in September 1960 or simply brandished
> it. The note refers to an interview I had with an eyewitness, a New York
> Times correspondent who was in the General Assembly hall that day and
> has contended ever since that Khrushchev brandished but did not bang.
> But the note also cites sources who claim that Khrushchev actually
> banged the shoe. When I gave a talk about the book at the Wilson Center
> in Washington on March 25, three more eyewitnesses "testified": One said
> the shoe was banged, the other said it was merely brandished, and the
> third, who asserted he was standing right being Nikita Sergeyevich,
> reported that, while holding the shoe in his hand, Khrushchev banged the
> desk in front of him but that only the heel of his hand, and not the
> shoe itself, touched the table. As if that isn't enough, I then received
> a letter from a former professional photographer who recalls that, along
> with photographers from New York City papers, wire services, and free
> lancers, he was watching the scene from a UN booth for still
> photographers. According to this source, "Every camera in the booth
> was trained on Khrushchev, waiting for him to use the shoe," but "he
> only put it on again and left. None of us missed the picture--which
> would have been a serious professional error." And so: Brandished? Or
> Banged? Or this photographer's conclusion: Khrushchev "did not bang his
> shoe on the desk," but "he certainly meant to do so."
>
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