Onegin et al. (correction & reply)

[Edward M Dumanis]

First of all, I would like to apologize for an unforgivable error
crediting Veronika Dolina as the author of the song about female Sancho
Panza. This song was written and performed by another contemporary
songwriter Natella Boltyanskaya, and it is called "Serenada. Zhenskaya."

Regarding Dr. Rancour-Laferriere's comment that in my message I somehow
give something with one hand while taking it away by the other, I must
reply that (from my point of view) this type of characterization would be
more appropriate in politics rather than in academic discussions.
Addressing directly Dr. Rancour-Laferriere, I want to say the following:

Please consider at least a possibility that some of your colleagues do not
have a political agenda but rather attempt to honestly discuss the
text-based approach with their own understanding of the surrounding
historical reality the way they understand it. You might disagree with
them, and, as I understand, your own painful experience shows how
difficult it is to insist on a point of view which stands against the
"established" one. It does not make them correct if your opponents defend
the "established" opinion but it does not make them wrong either. It is
easy to dismiss with what they say making rather political than literary
based statements.
However, your position is challenged on a literary ground, and not on a
political one. I sincerely believe that if we use our political opinions
in scholarly disputes, we will stifle the very spirit of academia.
I have never tried to take anything away from what you were proclaiming as
your interpretation of XIX century relationship as it is described by
Pushkin because my statement was not and is not meant to be political. It
might affect your political views or the strong feelings that you have but
it is unavoidable in discussing anything that many people find
controversial. It is quite common to see in such discussions a mixture of
academic and political positions if the latter ones are held quite
strongly, or at least one might be able to deduce what those political
positions are. Nevertheless, the only way of avoiding the unpleasantness
of the corresponding expressions is to avoid any discussions of such
topics. I do not believe that we should be placed in a position of
defending ourselves from accusations in bigotry; and I do not want to
discuss what happened in our history when people were forced to give an
oath of loyalty because I would be using then a political argument myself.
So, going back to literary criticism, I have not seen so far anything in
your position that would indicate that this position of your is not
affected by XXI century. I believe that this is the key which would
provide your position with credibility going beyond the expression of
your opinion. Again, this is not related to  somebody's view on
homosexuality or bisexuality either at present or in historical context.
This challenge is dictated purely by the logic of your arguments, and by
nothing else.
However, please take into account that the credibility of the result of
your analysis if you present one is not greater than the credibility of
the methods utilized there. If you make your demonstration rooted in
psychoanalysis, it is COMPLETELY fine with me with just one caveat: the
credibility of the result will be in direct proportion to the credibility
of the psychoanalytical methods you would use. Of course, this credibility
will be different for each of us. Nevertheless, this would be the way to
avoid the confusion of the two questons I was discussing, and it will show
the actual logical step from one of them to the other one.

Sicerely,

Edward Dumanis <dumanis at buffalo.edu>


On Fri, 7 Apr 2006, Edward M Dumanis wrote:

> 
> 
> On Thu, 6 Apr 2006, Daniel Rancour-Laferriere wrote:
> 
> ......../snip/.........
> > Agreed.  But there is no "real" Onegin.  We have all been constructing 
> > him for ourselves ever since Pushkin did.  But some constructs are more 
> > interesting than others, and some constructs explain certain things 
> > better than others.
> 
> The most interesting versions of the murder are not necessarily correct.
> However, it does not make them less interesting. Let's call the version of
> Onegin that Pushkin had correct by the definition. It does not mean that
> we ever know what that version was but we can utilize some methods of
> reconstruction which, we believe, will lead us closer to that correct
> version. Please keep in mind that it would not necessarily be an
> interesting version. On the other hand, there are might be some
> interesting versions but not necessarily correct ones. This is what I
> meant talking about the two different systems of literary reconstruction,
> and my plea was not to confuse them.
> 
> 
> > ................/snip/................
> > 
> > Edward Dumanis writes:
> > 
> > >A famous contemporary Russian songwriter, Veronika Dolina, has a poem
> > >where she portraits  Sancho Panza as a woman who is in love with her
> > >master. It's a wonderful song, however, I have not heard about anybody
> > >thinking that this might be what was in Cervantes' subconsciousness. Or
> > >was it?
> > >
> > First, the correct psychoanalytic term is "unconscious" ("subconscious" 
> > if you are a Jungian).  Second, I say: if Veronika Dolina can imagine 
> > Sancho in love with Quixote, Tat'iana can imagine Onegin in love with 
> > Lenskii.
> > 
> Thank you for correcting me. I have no clue how this "-ness" went into my
> writing. However, I need to clarify my example with Dolina. She explicitly
> interpret Sancho as a woman in love with Quixote, not a man. It is an
> interesting interpretation of Tat'iana imagining Onegin in love with
> Lenskii. However, it does contradict to the duller reality of her
> upbringing. Nevertheless it it still interesting. We can certainly imagine
> such things happening. It would not be Pushkin's realism in that case but
> so what? It will be your or my Onegin but not Pushkin's. Does it matter or
> not? - it is a completely different story.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Edward Dumanis <dumanis at buffalo.edu>
> 
> 

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