translation query: 1950s Soviet usage

[Svetlana Grenier]

Dear Rebecca,

To me it does not at all sound like "Western-style politicians" in this context.  It sounds like a positive term:  he is opposing it as a positive to the negative "kommersanty," who are ruled by financial considerations alone, while a Soviet politician (statesman) is ruled by ideological considerations first of all (which include the good of the nation/people).  In that sense this position as "kommersant" is also called "antigosudarstvennaia positsiia".  I can remember the Soviet usage praising various leaders for being "mudryi politik" (growing up in Russia in the 60s-70s).

Best, 
Svetlana Grenier



----- Original Message -----
From: Rebecca Jane Stanton <rjs19 at COLUMBIA.EDU>
Date: Tuesday, January 9, 2007 12:56 pm
Subject: [SEELANGS] translation query: 1950s Soviet usage

> Dear SEELANGers,
> I'm posting the following inquiry on behalf of a historian 
> colleague.  
> Please feel free to reply to the list or to Professor Roth-Ey 
> directly, 
> as you deem appropriate.  Her email address is krothey at yahoo.com .
> 
> The substance of the query:
> The following is an excerpt from a 1956 article by Igor Il'inskii 
> (the 
> comedian) in Literaturnaia gazeta, wherein he browbeats his fellow 
> artists for snubbing television.  He writes:
> "Takaia pozitsiia predstavlaetsia mne antigosudarstvennoi. Davaite 
> rukovodstvovat'sia soobrazheniiami tvorcheskimi, ideinymi, a ne 
> odnoi 
> tol'ko zabotei o povyshenii sborov. Ved' my delaem odno i to zhe 
> delo. 
> Kak zhe mozhno davat' narodu vmesto luchshikh -- khudshie obraztsy 
> iskusstva, stalo byt', rasprostraniat' ikh na gigantskuiu 
> auditoriiu. I 
> kto my, v kontse kontsov, --komersanty ili politiki?* *Ia 
> ubezhden, shto 
> televidenie nikogda ne zaimet mesta teatra..."
> ** 
> The question concerns the use of the term "politiki" here.  In 
> 1956, is 
> it probable that the term only refers to "Western" or "Western-
> style" 
> politicians?  Should a responsible translation render the word not 
> just 
> as "politicians" but as "Western-style [or some other adjective] 
> politicians"?   For scholarly purposes, the translation
> needs to convey the nuance of what Il'inskii means here.
> 
> All expert opinions will be appreciated!
> Thanks,
> RJS
> 
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