query re: Russian commonplace books

[Rebecca Jane Stanton]

Yes, but the book of my friend (who is not a high school girl but a 
middle-aged woman, and is not of a particularly educated class) is more 
akin to what we understand as a commonplace book, in the sense that 
while everything is beautifully written out, it's not just poetry that 
goes in there but also other quotations, proverbs, recipes, horoscopes, 
her own verses, etc.  The point I am trying to make (in response to Dr. 
Suasso's posting) is that a phenomenon which appears to meet the general 
definition of "commonplace book" does exist in Russia, but may not have 
a name or be recognised as a genre as it is in Anglophone culture.  It 
also seems that when people talk about commonplace books in the English 
or American context they generally are referring to texts that are 200+ 
years old, so the history of the genre is an important part of the 
definition.  In other words, if something walks like a commonplace book 
and quacks like a commonplace book but is not directly descended from 
the commonplace books of Milton and Bacon, can it be a commonplace 
book?  And if so (to return to Dr. Fisher's original question) what 
would the Russian name for it be?

RJS


Alina Israeli wrote:

> High school girls often have a notebook of favorite poem (maybe it's  
> a descendent of Al'bom of Pushkin's time). The habit wanes with age.  
> However this seems to be different from "commonplace books" http:// 
> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonplace
>
> On Sep 21, 2007, at 10:44 AM, Rebecca Jane Stanton wrote:
>
>> Actually I have at least one friend in Petersburg who does keep  what 
>> would, I think, be best described as a commonplace book --  into 
>> which she writes poems and other fragments of literature she's  read 
>> that strike a chord with her, effectively anthologizing them  for 
>> personal use.  She produces it quite often when I'm around and  the 
>> subject of poetry comes up.  I can't imagine she is alone in  this -- 
>> especially given the Russian affinity for books and  libraries, the 
>> historical scarcity of commercially produced books,  the tradition of 
>> samizdat, etc. -- but the question of whether it  exists as a 
>> recognized cultural phenomenon with a name, much less a  known 
>> history, in Russia is one I'm not in a position to answer.
>>
>> Regards,
>> RJS
>>
>>
>
> 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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-- 
Rebecca Stanton
Assistant Professor of Russian
Dept. of Slavic Languages
Barnard College, Columbia University
3009 Broadway
New York, NY 10027

(212) 854-3133
http://www.columbia.edu/~rjs19

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