Translation question

[goscilo]

Tony,

Yes, bodies WERE sent back in zinc coffins.  See Svetlana Aleksievich's 
ZINKY BOYS, translated into Eng. approx. 12 years ago.  A good source for 
death in the Afghan war.

Helena

--On Monday, January 15, 2007 12:22 PM -0500 Tony Anemone <aaanem at WM.EDU> 
wrote:r

> Aleksei Balabanov's new film, presently in production, is called
> GRUZ-200 (Official English translation is CARGO 200).   This is
> apparently a bureaucratic phrase describing the shipment home of
> military coffins of soldiers killed in action.   The movie is set  during
> the late "zastoi" and concerns a soldier killed in  Afghanistan.  I'm
> hoping that someone on the list will be able to  tell me more about this
> term:  is it a reference to the weight of the  coffin and body? 200 kg
> seems heavy, but Balabanov speaks of "zinc"  coffins in an on-line
> interview. . .  Does (did?) the Russian army  commonly use zinc in
> coffins? is the term used and understood today?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Tony
>
>
>
>
> Tony Anemone
> Visiting Associate Professor of Humanities and Russian
> University Humanities Program
> The New School
> anemonea at newschool.edu
> 757-870-8083
>
>
>
>
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