The article in the New Yorker -- freedom of speech in Russia
Michael Denner
mdenner at STETSON.EDU
Fri Feb 2 20:01:59 UTC 2007
Andrey,
"'If everybody minded their own business,' the Duchess said, in a hoarse
growl, 'the world would go around a great deal faster than it does.'"
I'll stick with my Lewis Carroll simile.
mad
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Dr. Michael A. Denner
Editor, Tolstoy Studies Journal
Director, University Honors Program
Contact Information:
Russian Studies Program
Stetson University
Campus Box 8361
DeLand, FL 32720-3756
386.822.7381 (department)
386.822.7265 (direct line)
386.822.7380 (fax)
www.stetson.edu/~mdenner
-----Original Message-----
From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
[mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU] On Behalf Of Andrey Shcherbenok
Sent: Friday, February 02, 2007 1:12 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] The article in the New Yorker -- freedom of
speech in Russia
The paradox of the Cretan Liar?
Dear Michael,
I think there is a paradox here only if you assume both premises to be
true.
That is, there is no freedom of the press in Russia, this fact is
reported
and discussed in Russian press. But if you consider both premises to be
suppositions rather than facts, than what you have is just a plain
refutation of the first one by the demonstration of the second one. It
is no
more postmodern or Cretan or Carolian than if someone would explain to
you
in clear English that he cannot speak any English at all because he
never
had a chance to study it, he grew up outside an English-speaking
environment
etc. You would not see it as a postmodern paradox, you would just
conclude
that the person is exaggerating his or her language problems. Which is
exactly what Freedom House does by its reports on Russia. The result
outside
the country may be some additional damage to Russia's image, the result
inside the country is that since people see that the report is obviously
out
of touch with reality in placing Russia in the same group as North
Korea,
they reject even the reasonable part of it.
The same is the result of other anti-Putin or anti-Russian campaigns in
Western media: because they are so wildly exaggerative, even the most
westernized people in Russia stop taking them seriously altogether. You
can
compare it, maybe, with the effect of Islamist anti-American rhetoric in
America: Americans may be critical of their government, but when they
read
some Islamic cleric's diatribe against America as the realm of the
Devil,
that can hardly help them become more critical of the shortcomings of
the US
corporate system. Both kinds of rhetoric are intended for domestic use
only,
when they are imported, they tend to have the effect opposite to the one
intended.
Andrey Shcherbenok
-----Original Message-----
From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
[mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU] On Behalf Of Michael Denner
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 7:43 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] The article in the New Yorker -- freedom of
speech
in Russia
Since it seems we are on the subject:
http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.html?docId=739175
?????? ?? ????? ????? ???? ?????
?????? Freedom House ?????? ?????? ???????
There is something, well, postmodern about the press in Russia reporting
on
the lack of press freedoms in Russia. I tried to explain it to my
students
today, and I realized that I sounded a little like Lewis Caroll...
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Dr. Michael A. Denner
Editor, Tolstoy Studies Journal
Director, University Honors Program
Contact Information:
Russian Studies Program
Stetson University
Campus Box 8361
DeLand, FL 32720-3756
386.822.7381 (department)
386.822.7265 (direct line)
386.822.7380 (fax)
http://www.stetson.edu/~mdenner
________________________________
From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list on behalf of
Alina Israeli
Sent: Thu 2/1/2007 12:53 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] The article in the New Yorker -- freedom of
speech
in Russia
Some commentary is necessary, I think:
On Feb 1, 2007, at 10:48 AM, Andrey Shcherbenok wrote:
>
> More than that, at any newsstand in a subway station in St.
> Petersburg you
> can buy Kommersant, Novaya Gazeta, Argumenty i Fakty, Zavtra,
> Izvestia, etc.
> The scope of opinions expressed in these sources is MUCH WIDER than
> those
> you can obtain from a newsstand in New York subway.
That is indeed so, but the print media is dying in the US. While in
the North America almost 70% of the population are Internet users
(http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm), in Russia the number
is at 14% (http://www.eatr.ru/media/media_20_07_2006_1.htm) so there
is higher reliance on print media there.
So in all fairness one has to compare Russian newspapers with the US
TV land and the Internet landscape.
As for the freedoms themselves, there are freedoms from and freedoms
to. The 1st Amendment protects the freedom from government's
involvement. If the government will prevent KKK from publishing their
rubbish, I will donate money to the ACLU to sue the government and to
reinstate their right under the First Amendment. But I will not
support KKK's right to publish their hateful literature.
So in order to see the spectrum in the US, you have to search the
Internet for a few minutes, really not that much, and you will find
the far left and the far right, and everything in between.
> Have you ever seen some easily available media
> source in the US describing the US military in Iraq as a gang of
> bloody
> murderers? In Russia you can read such a description of Russian
> military in
> Chechnya in a newspaper purchased for 10 rubles in your local
> newsstand.
Same deal here: what's easily available is what would reflect a
seizable majority who do not perceive US Army as a gang of bloody
murderers. I am sure there are some people who do and you are sure to
find this on the Internet.
But it is American press that by and large uncovers all scandals
revolving around the US military (and there were a few over the
years), and what's most important this information is taken seriously
by those whose infractions are being uncovered. In Russia the press
may write, no one cares. I think the establishment's attitude is best
described ?????? ???? - ????? ?????. How many times has it been
written about dedovshchina? Now everyone knows the name of Sychev,
but will the practice stop? Are there any guarantees?
Alina Israeli
LFS, American University
4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington DC. 20016
(202) 885-2387
fax (202) 885-1076
aisrael at american.edu
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