Tiuriemno - "blatnaya" lirika

[Alexandra Smith]

Dear Alexander,

Although you are eager to find some analogies between Gorbovsky's  
rendering of one popular song  that in post-Soviet Russia would be  
defined as an example of the SHANSON genre (it's not related to the  
French tradition, it's a different cup of tea altogether), I would  
strongly encourage you to watch the documentary film on Arkady  
Severnyi titled "Chelovek, kotorogo ne bylo":  
http://www.5-tv.ru/video/1015676/
You would see for yourself that it is fruitless to look for any  
analogies  between the western traditions and the tradition of  
Odessa-like-semi-criminal songs that should be treated as a cultural  
construct of the Soviet intelligentsia of the 1960s-70s. The  
documentary on Severny demonstrates very well that this type of songs  
were imitated  by many bards and performers  in Russia as part of  
their escapist strategies. Thus Gorbovsky's song should be considered  
as part of this Leningrad dissident/semi-dissident imaginary utopian  
carnivalesque  space that enables the participants of this subcultural  
space  to laugh at the established Soviet cultural values and  
ideological dogma. One part of the film suggests that this type of  
songs were hugely enjoyed by some serious St Petersburg scholars  
including Dmitry Lichachev and Milena Rozdestvenskaya.

With best wishes,
Sasha Smith



*******************************************

Alexandra Smith (PhD, University of London)
Reader in Russian
Department of European Languages and Cultures
School of  Languages, Literatures and Cultures
The University of Edinburgh
David Hume Tower
George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9JX
UK

tel. +44-(0)131-6511381
fax: +44- (0)131- 650-3604
e-mail: Alexandra.Smith at ed.ac.uk


Quoting Alexander Stratienko <a_strat at HOTMAIL.COM>:

> Thank you, Sasha, Olga and Alina... Anyway, I would like to hear   
> opinion of the English
> speaking SEELANGers... I know this song from my childhood - we sang   
> it yet back in school
> together with "На Дерибасовской открылася пивная", "В неапольском   
> порту..." или
> "Когда я был малой чувак..."... (всякому жанру свое время! :)) But   
> it do not match in
> my mind with the "House of Rising Sun" for example. I am just   
> curious do they feel the same?
> Robert Chandler? Andrew Jameson? Paul Gallagher? By the way, when I   
> realized what the
> Triaboliques are actually singing. I accepted it as a parody!
>
> And one more funny experience... When I typed the "Когда качаются   
> фонарики ночные..."
> in the Google, the first links referred to... Vladimir Vysockiy! He   
> sings just an "extract" and
> his "version" is quite different! Vysockiy himself wrote a number of  
>  parodies on "jail folk" but when
> he sang those songs to the inmates, they regarded them as "not   
> genuine"... and weren't too much
> excited...
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Alina Israeli" <aisrael at AMERICAN.EDU>
> To: <SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu>
> Sent: Saturday, September 12, 2009 8:04 PM
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Tiuriemno - "blatnaya" lirika
>
> Когда качаются фонарики ночные:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrZ_afhBgig
>
> Olga Meerson wrote:
>  > The song has an author. It is Gleb Gorbovskij.
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Show them the way! Add maps and directions to your party invites.
> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowslive/products/events.aspx
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>  Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
>   options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
>                     http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>

-- 
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
Scotland, with registration number SC005336.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------