Russian Postcolonial Poetry

[Daniel Rancour-Laferriere]

16 March 06

Dear Elena Gapova,
I appreciate your thoughtful response, and I agree that "Nash 
sovremennik" is always a good place to find material on the current 
state of "nationalism" and "patriarchy" in Russia.  I have gone there 
many times, ever since I discovered Igor' Shafarevich's anti-Semitic 
1989 piece "Rusofobiia" (_Nash sovremennik_, nos. 6 [167-192], 11 
[162-171]).

I also agree that "psychological problems" (such as the paranoia built 
into anti-Semitism, or the injured narcissism of empire, or hatred of 
women, or alcoholism) in many cases cannot be seen apart from their 
social context.  Those who have been victimized by the transition from a 
socialist support structure to an out-of-control capitalism and chaotic 
democratic "reform" are the ones most likely to suffer such 
"psychological problems," and those who sympathize with and can 
articulate such problems often turn to "Nash sovremennik" as a 
mouthpiece.  Perhaps this is even a therapeutic process for the readers 
of that journal.

As for "deep anti-capitalist feeling," I agree.  But it has a long 
tradition in Russia, extending back to the Slavophiles and further, as I 
am sure you are aware.  But it is also a "feeling," as you say, and 
"feeling" is precisely what psychologists study.

Sincerely,

Daniel Rancour-Laferriere



Elena Gapova wrote:

>Dear Daniel Rancour-Laferriere,
>
>sorry for the belated reaction to your message (I was travelling); still, i would love to make a clarification. 
>
>I see the poems (posted in response to the question by Nina Shevchuk) as an illustration of the forms a rethinking of national identity can take in certain social groups, of which "Nash sovremennik" is (and seems to have always been) a mouthpiece. The group has particular social characteristics, as far as age, major regions of residence, occupation (or vocation), previous experience (or life course), current opportunities of income etc. are concerned: in the same way as pro-life (and largely pro-war in Iraq, and pro-lower taxes) groups in the US can be described (and "explained") in terms of their social belonging. To add one more trait: the "Nash sovremennik" milieu is also very "pro-life" and traditional in its views of gender roles (and when I need to show to my students how "nationalism" is also "patriarchy", I look there for a qood quote).
>
>I would be rather cautious about judging the nation on the account of this very partial evidence. I also think that current "nationalism" (whatever is veiled by it) is, in the long run, not about the desire of Russia becoming the "biggest country" etc. (this is rather a trope), but about how its citizens have felt vis-a-vis "powerful others" during the last decade and a half, and how many of them rather lost, than gained from what was supposed to be democratic reforms. 
>
>Briefly, I would rather see the Shemshuchenko's nationalism and "psychological problems" as an expression of a deep anti-capitalist feeling.
>  
>Sincerely,
>e.g. 
>
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
>[mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU]On Behalf Of Daniel
>Rancour-Laferriere
>Sent: Friday, March 10, 2006 2:34 AM
>To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
>Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Russian Postcolonial Poetry
>
>
>9 March 06
>
>Dear Elena Gapova, and other Slavist colleagues -
>
>Yes, the injured narcissism of empire continues to grow in the 
>post-Soviet space.  This sort of thing was less common, say, ten years 
>ago, during the chaos of the Eltsin administration.  Only 7% of 
>respondents in a 1996 Russia-wide representative sample agreed with the 
>statement that "Russia should be revived as a strong military empire 
>with the boundaries of the former USSR" (see my _Russian Nationalism 
> From an Interdisciplinary Perspective_, Edwin Mellen Press, 2000, p. 
>164; also available in Russian translation from Ladomir).  From the 
>postings I have seen recently on JRL and elsewhere, this percentage has 
>now tripled at least (I don't have the exact figures at hand).
>
>In any case, the poet you have quoted is expressing an increasingly 
>acceptable sentiment.  This poet's self-esteem is wounded by the 
>historical fact of the disintegration of the Soviet empire, and he 
>lashes back at imagined enemies, he wants to bring back the knout, his 
>grandiose need is not even satisfied with the fact that the Russian 
>Federation - after all those 14 other republics have been shed - is 
>still the largest country on earth.
>
>Even historians without a psychological orientation have recognized the 
>psychological problem.  Writing in 1997, Richard Pipes said: "Since the 
>seventeenth century, when Russia was already the world's largest state, 
>the immensity of their domain has served Russians as psychological 
>compensation for their relative backwardness and poverty.  Thus the loss 
>of empire has been for the politically engaged among them a much more 
>bewildering experience than for the British, French, or Dutch" (qtd on 
>p. 164 of my book).
>
>Much more could be said about the mentality of Vladimir Shemshuchenko, 
>based on his poetry.  But I shall refrain.  More important will be the 
>political consequences of this mentality as it grows in Russia.
>
>Regards to the list,
>
>Daniel Rancour-Laferriere
>
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