Moscow Metro announcements

[Anne Lounsbery]

In response to Michael Denner's posting:

If the last thirty or so years of literary theory have taught us anything,
it's that there's more than one way to read--and certainly more than one
right way to read.  Even secretaries reading Tolstoy over lunch (really, how
dare they?) might have good reasons for reading the way they do, and for
creating their own versions of the Tolstoy that some of us seem to think we
own.  I often start out my survey courses with reference to Oprah's Book
Club:  I point out that while the Oprah way to read is an entirely
legitimate one with a long and respectable history (i.e., reading for
self-improvement, or emotional release, or "community-building" ...), it's
not the way we're going to be reading for the class.  I find that this helps
introduce the goals and ground rules of the course while acknowledging that
the way I intend to make students read is, as we say, historically
conditioned.

As far as having to "share" Tolstoy, that's the fate of all printed texts:
they're shared.  That's what makes them both so powerful and so vulnerable.

Finally, there are more important things for us to do than inculcate in our
students a "respect of the man and his work."  And by the way, I love
Tolstoy.


Anne Lounsbery
Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Study
Department of Russian and Slavic Studies
New York University
19 University Place, 2nd floor
New York, NY 10003

(212) 998-8674



>Excerpted from Michael Denner's posting:

Are we really doing the American public, Russian literature, or Slavistics a
favor with this kind of "PR"? I spend a not inconsiderable time and effort
"popularizing" Tolstoy here in the US, but I try to do so in a way that's
respectful of the man and his work.

It's good for a laugh, though, I suppose.

In the end, I'm ambivalent towards the issue - I suppose there are worse
things for secretaries to read over lunch, but the elitist, over-educated
part of me who loves Tolstoy beyond measure bristles a bit at having to
share him, at least on these terms.




-----Original Message-----
From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
[mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU]On Behalf Of Michael Denner
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2004 2:25 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
Subject: [SEELANGS] Moscow Metro announcements


Dear Colleagues,

When in Moscow at the beginning of May, riding the red line (Сокольническая
линия) on the south side of Moscow, I heard repeatedly a strange version of
the usual announcements over the PA - the words were the same (Уважаемые
пассажиры, при выходе не забывайте свои вещи!, etc.), but considerable
license had been taken with its expression (следующая станция...
Спааааааааар-ТИИИИВ-ная!!!!). I actually saw people smile and laugh at the
announcements- a rarity, to be sure, on the Moscow metro, so I reckon it
must be a new phenomenon. The metro & its administration is usually very
serious.  I didn't hear these announcements anywhere else in the city.

I'm wondering if anyone has read anything about this - I did a search on
Google, but couldn't turn up any relevant articles. Why the change? Who's
responsible? Is it parcel of the "Улыбнись и Мир улыбнется тебе" campaign
that's everywhere in Moscow now?

And apropos of my earlier posting on Oprah & Anna: My antipathy towards
Oprah & her reading club is pretty high - I'm afraid most of her readers
will just get the Greta Garbo version (or, more exactly, the wonderfully,
self-consciously awful bilingual comic-book version published by Мир новых
русских -- worth the $15 from Дом новых русских just to see an artist's
depiction of Anna snorting cocaine) of what is, for me, the greatest of
novels. I doubt that the Mona Lisa has gained much from being reprinted on
coffee cups, though I suppose some would argue that such popularization of
art is good for museums.

Here's a tidbit from Ms. Winfrey's description of the novel:

"An extremely sexy and engrossing read, this book tells the tale of one of
the most enthralling love affairs in the history of literature-it truly was
the "Harlequin Romance" of its day."
(It goes on an on:
http://www.oprah.com/obc_classic/featbook/anna/obc_featbook_anna_main.jhtml)

Are we really doing the American public, Russian literature, or Slavistics a
favor with this kind of "PR"? I spend a not inconsiderable time and effort
"popularizing" Tolstoy here in the US, but I try to do so in a way that's
respectful of the man and his work.

It's good for a laugh, though, I suppose.

In the end, I'm ambivalent towards the issue - I suppose there are worse
things for secretaries to read over lunch, but the elitist, over-educated
part of me who loves Tolstoy beyond measure bristles a bit at having to
share him, at least on these terms.

mad
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Dr. Michael A. Denner
Russian Studies Program
Stetson University
Campus Box 8361
DeLand, FL 32724
386.822.7381 (department)
386.822.7265 (direct line)
386.822.7380 (fax)
http://www.stetson.edu/~mdenner
http://russianpoetry.net

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