Anekdot query

[Maryna Vinarska]

I have also never  heard Russians be stereotyped as philosophers in the Western world, normally quite different cliches are being promoted, but I did hear once the following statement on Russian TV: U russkikh gorizontnoe myshlenie. The statement was supposed to mean the following: Russians are never satisfied with what they have (so true…) but always curious about what is behind the horizon (za gorizontom). This lack of practicality is true and in a way does prove the inclination to philosophize.

Regards,
Maryna Vinarska


--- On Mon, 1/26/09, Josh Wilson <jwilson at SRAS.ORG> wrote:

> From: Josh Wilson <jwilson at SRAS.ORG>
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Anekdot query
> To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
> Date: Monday, January 26, 2009, 6:44 AM
> Does anyone really stereotype Russians as philosophers? I
> know there have
> been many greats from Russia - but as a stereotype (and
> joke) I'm not sure
> it works. 
> 
> I don't know how many times I've heard this joke -
> even told to me by
> Russians in Russia and I don't think I've ever
> heard the Russians mentioned
> in list. 
> 
> I've usually heard it as: 
> 
> Heaven: the policeman is British, the lover is Italian, the
> cook is French,
> the engineer is German and it is all organized by the
> Swiss.
> 
> Hell: the policeman is German, the lover is Swiss, the cook
> is British, the
> engineer is French and it is all organized by the Italians.
> 
> A quick look online also reveals this variant: 
> 
> Heaven: the cook is French, the car is German, the police
> is English, the
> woman is Italian and the service is American.
> 
> And Hell is: the cook is English, the car is American, the
> police are
> Italian, the woman is French and the service is German.
> 
> If to add the Russians in in a way prompts hard-core
> stereotypes, might I
> suggest:
> 
> Heaven: the Russians make the toasts
> 
> Hell: the Russians make the toasts. 
> 
> 
> Josh Wilson
> Asst. Director
> The School of Russian and Asian Studies
> Editor-in-Chief
> Vestnik, The Journal of Russian and Asian Studies
> www.sras.org
> jwilson at sras.org
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and
> Literatures list
> [mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Ben Rifkin
> Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 7:12 AM
> To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
> Subject: [SEELANGS] Anekdot query
> 
> Dear SEELANGers:
> 
> Can someone help remind me of the Russian anekdot about
> heaven and hell,
> something along the lines of heaven is the place where the
> cook is French,
> the police officer is English, the engineer is German, the
> lover is Italian,
> and the philosopher is Russian, while hell is the place
> where the cook is
> English, the philosopher is Italian, the police officer is
> German ...
> (perhaps here we could add that the American is the
> 
> I know this anekdot is not from War & Peace, in which
> Tolstoy writes about
> the arrogance of different peoples and concludes that the
> arrogance of the
> German is the worst because he knows unquestioningly that
> he is right.
> 
> I want to present some context for discussing stereotypes
> in class. I¹ll be
> using the famous elephant book contest (competition to come
> up with a book
> about elephants, joke from the 1980s).
> 
> Thanks for your help.
> 
> Ben Rifkin
> 
> 
> 
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