Joke in Platonov film script

[Alina Israeli]

Don't you think that sex should be involved in producing a child? So  
for him, SHE would be the ground of освоение (like  
целина).

Alina

On Jan 21, 2012, at 2:33 AM, Robert Chandler 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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Alina Israeli
Associate Professor of Russian
LFS, American University
4400 Massachusetts Ave.
Washington DC 20016
(202) 885-2387 	fax (202) 885-1076
aisrael at american.edu

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