Moscow Metro announcements

Thu Jun 3 19:25:06 UTC 2004

Yeah, at risk of disrespecting the man and his work, wasn't he the one
that said the uneducated had something to teach the educated? One side
note: now that he's finished with his nationwide weight loss program, next
season Dr Phil is planning to do an intensive reading of Dostoevsky's
novels.

How's that workin' for ya, Raskolnikov?

Cheers,
Ian

On Thu, 3 Jun 2004, Anne Lounsbery wrote:

> 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 (??????????????
> ?????) on the south side of Moscow, I heard repeatedly a strange version of
> the usual announcements over the PA - the words were the same (?????????
> ?????????, ??? ?????? ?? ????????? ???? ????!, etc.), but considerable
> license had been taken with its expression (????????? ???????...
> ????????????-??????-???!!!!). 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 "???????? ? ??? ????????? ????" 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 ??? ?????
> ??????? -- worth the $15 from ??? ????? ??????? 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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