Joke in Platonov film script

[Petre Petrov]

Dear Robert,

I am quite certain there was never in official ideological discourse
anything like "эпоха освоения." On the other hand, "эпоха реконструкции"
does appear in Stalinist meta-narratives of history, but usually refers to
an earlier period--the years right after the Civil War. In fact, the entire
Stalinist case for industrialization and collectivization rests on the
thesis that "реконструкция" has been completed, the full capacity of
existing industry has been reached, so any further growth of the economy is
possible only through new construction (not reconstruction).

It is more plausible to assume that Platonov is mixing registers here. He
is taking "эпоха" from the high register of historical grand narratives,
while "реконструкция" and "освоение" come from the industrial bureaucratese
of the First Five-Year Plan, where first comes "строительство мощностей",
then "освоение (проекнтых) мощностей."

Best,
PP





On Sat, Jan 21, 2012 at 8:33 AM, Robert Chandler <kcf19 at dial.pipex.com>wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> I am struggling with a few lines from Platonov's "Otets-Mat'", a film
> script that he wrote around the same time as his novel HAPPY MOSCOW, and
> which incorporates some of the same themes.
>        Zhenya and Bezgadov are adopting an orphaned boy called Stepan.
>
> Женя (снимая синий плащ): Ну, вот у нас с тобой сразу готовый сын, сразу
> эпоха освоения.
> Безгадов издает икающий звук. Ссаживает Степана с рук. Отряхивается.
> -- Лучше б сначала было строительство -- тяжелое, потом легкое, потом уж
> освоение.
> Степан: Мама! Довольно вам глупости говорить, а то я вас брошу.
>
> The joke here is to do with the different "epochs" of the construction of
> socialism.  1929-31, for example, was called эпохой реконструкции.
>
> My first question: Did the  эпоха освоения follow immediately after this,
> or was there another epoch in between?
>
> Secondly and more important: Can anyone suggest any translation other than
> "the epoch of exploitation"?  (It is hard to get the joke to work with this
> translation!)
>
> All the best,
>
> Robert
>
> Robert Chandler, 42 Milson Road, London, W14 OLD
>
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-- 
PP

_______________
....и лощадью мне в морду храпит.

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