Gogol Bordello

[Elizabeth A. Papazian]

Just another note about the use of Gogol's name:  the character named 
Gogol in Jhumpa Lahiri's recent novel ("The Namesake") was actually 
named for the Gogol we all know and love.  The name -- and the fact 
that the eponymous hero has no idea why he was given this name -- forms 
the main hinge of the plot.  Quite an interesting reference to Russian 
literature in a book about the American experience.

E.Papazian

On 21 Feb 2006, at 12.09pm, Lily Alexander wrote:
>
> As for Gogol's name in the movies, this reflects a trend when the 
> media producers and TV writers, when need a Russian name, do not go 
> any farther than familiar names form Russian literature, be it a name 
> of a writer or character. They don't of course realize they deal with 
> rare or "constructed" names, and this has been a very funny trend. The 
> Law and Order and similar series have had terrible murderers and other 
> scary barbaric looking criminals with Russian accent and the last 
> names like Rostov or Zhivago. There are many other example of this 
> kind.
>
> Lily Alexander
>
>

Elizabeth A. Papazian
Assistant Professor of Russian
School of Languages
3215 Jimenez Hall
University of Maryland
College Park, MD  20742

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