Grossman - Gorky - kul'turnye igrushki

[Kenneth Brostrom]

Building on Laura's suggestion, perhaps 
"culturally edifying toys"? That sounds suitably 
pretentious to my ear.

Ken Brostrom



>Dear Robert,
>What about "edifying toys"? It doesn't sound as modern as "educational," but
>it conveys the same idea.
>Best,
>Laura
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
>[mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Robert Chandler
>Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 11:49 AM
>To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
>Subject: [SEELANGS] Grossman - Gorky - kul'turnye igrushki
>
>Dear all,
>
>This is from the chapter in VSE TECHET about the Terror Famine in Ukraine -
>the Holodomor.
>
>  ü ’Ë”ÂÎý:  ”Ë’—ËÌý  ӔÌý ÔÓÔÓÎÁÎý ÔÓÔ•ÂÍ
>ڕÓÚÛý•ý,    ”’Ó•ÌËÍ ÌӓÓÈ  ۔ý•ËÎ,  ÓÌý  Ìý ÏÓÒÚӒۜ  ÒÍýÚËÎýÒ¸.  à ÌÂ
>ӓÎþÌÛÎýÒ¸  ”ýÊÂ,  ÔÓÎÁÂÚ  ·šÒڕÓ, ·šÒڕÓ, ÒÚý•ýÂÚÒþ, ÓÚÍ۔ý ˜ ÒËÎý. à ˜Â
>ÔÎýڸ  ÓڕþžË’ýÂÚ,  ÁýԚÎËÎÓÒ¸, ’˔˯¸.  Ä þ ’ ›ÚÓÚ ”Â̸ “ýÁÂÚÛ ÏÓÒÍӒÒÍۜ
>ÍÛÔËÎý,  ԕӗÎý ÒÚýÚ¸œ åýÍÒËÏý Éӕ¸ÍӓÓ, —ÚÓ ”ÂÚþÏ ÌÛÊ̚  ü ’Ë”ÂÎý:  ”Ë’—ËÌý
>ӔÌý ÔÓÔÓÎÁÎý ÔÓÔ•ÂÍ
>ڕÓÚÛý•ý,    ”’Ó•ÌËÍ ÌӓÓÈ  ۔ý•ËÎ,  ÓÌý  Ìý ÏÓÒÚӒۜ  ÒÍýÚËÎýÒ¸.  à ÌÂ
>ӓÎþÌÛÎýÒ¸  ”ýÊÂ,  ÔÓÎÁÂÚ  ·šÒڕÓ, ·šÒڕÓ, ÒÚý•ýÂÚÒþ, ÓÚÍ۔ý ˜ ÒËÎý. à ˜Â
>ÔÎýڸ  ÓڕþžË’ýÂÚ,  ÁýԚÎËÎÓÒ¸, ’˔˯¸.  Ä þ ’ ›ÚÓÚ ”Â̸ “ýÁÂÚÛ ÏÓÒÍӒÒÍۜ
>ÍÛÔËÎý,  ԕӗÎý ÒÚýÚ¸œ åýÍÒËÏý Éӕ¸ÍӓÓ, —ÚÓ ”ÂÚþÏ ÌÛÊ̚ ÍÛθÚە̚ ˓•Û¯ÍË.
>çÂÛÊÂÎË  åýÍÒËÏ  Éӕ¸ÍËÈ  Ì  ÁÌýÎ  Ô•Ó  Úž  ”ÂÚÂÈ,  —ÚÓ  ·Ëڜ“Ë  Ìý ҒýÎÍÛ
>’š’ÓÁËÎË, - ËÏ, —ÚÓ ÎË, ˓•Û¯ÍË?
>
>I can't make up my mind how to translate these kul'turnye igrushki.
>
>'Educational toys' sounds fine, but I worry that it may be too modern.  Did
>the concept of 'educational toys' exist in the 1930s?
>
>'Cultured/cultural toys' possibly sounds even more absurd in English than in
>Russian.  It is ok for it to sound a bit absurd - the phrase does, after
>all, make the narrator indignant - but we need it to sound like something
>Gorky could actually have said.
>
>Can anyone think of any other possibilities?
>
>I saw one young girl crawl across the pavement.  A street sweeper gave her a
>kick, and she rolled onto the roadway.  She didn't look round.  She just
>crawled on, fast as she could, heaven knows where she got the strength from.
>And she even tried to shake the dust off her dress.  That same day I bought
>a Moscow paper.  I read an article by Maksim Gorky about how children need
>cultured (educational??) toys.  Did Gorky not know about the children
>stacked on the cart?  Did they really need cultured toys?  Or maybe Gorky
>did know - and kept silent, like everyone kept silent.
>
>All the best,
>
>Robert
>
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-- 
Kenneth Brostrom
Assoc. Prof. of Russian
Dept. of Classical and Modern Languages,
   Literatures, and Cultures
Wayne State University
Tel.: 313-577-6238
Email: ad5537 at wayne.edu

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