Translation of The Kreutzer Sonata

[David Powelstock]

My comment characterizes the story--its implied author, if you will--and
not its protagonist. As we all know, it is usually a mistake to equate the
views of an author--even an implied author--with those of a protagonist or
narrator. Pozdnyshev may be all the things Daniel says he is and more, but
even if this is true, it hardly means that the story itself sanctions these
attitudes (or pathologies, if you prefer). On the other hand, my claim that
the *story* is emphatically sex-negative is, while arguable, hardly
controversial. Nor do I think it is "curious," although I admit that I'm
not sure exactly what that adjective is meant to convey in this context. Of
course, there is plenty of ambiguity and complexity (not to mention
hypocrisy) in and between Tolstoy's own behavior and views about sexuality.

Regards to all,
David

 * * * * * * * * * *
David Powelstock
Assoc. Prof. of Russian and Comparative Literature
Director, Master of Arts in Comparative Humanities
Brandeis University
Waltham, MA 02453


On Fri, Nov 1, 2013 at 12:20 AM, Daniel Rancour-Laferriere <
darancourlaferriere at comcast.net> wrote:

> Dear Slavists,
>
> "Sex-negative" (David Powelstock's quotation marks) is a curious way to
> put it.  I would say (and have said in TOLSTOY ON THE COUCH, 1998) that the
> character Pozdnyshev in THE KREUTZER SONATA is more complicated than that.
>  It is true that he has a negative attitude toward heterosexual relations,
> and an ambivalence about male homosexuality.  He is also a misogynist.  And
> a masochist.  And narcissistic in the extreme.  The murder of his nameless
> wife is an explosion of narcissistic rage.  And there is much else.
>
> I look forward to reading the book by Michael R. Katz.
>
> With regards to the list -
>
> Daniel Rancour-Laferriere
>
>
>
> On Oct 31, 2013, at 3:12 PM, David Powelstock wrote:
>
> Dear Michael,
>
>  That is very exciting news. I'm a big fan of your *Notes from the UG*translation, so I look forward to your "Kreutzer" translation. It's such a
> a fascinating text, even though the Tolstoi of "Kreutzer" is my least
> favorite Tolstoi. To explain my aversion in the terms prevalent in San
> Francisco in the 1990s, "Kreutzer" is appallingly "sex-negative."
>
> Cheers,
> David
>
>  * * * * * * * * * *
> David Powelstock
> Assoc. Prof. of Russian and Comparative Literature
> Director, Master of Arts in Comparative Humanities
> Brandeis University
> Waltham, MA 02453
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 31, 2013 at 5:26 PM, Katz, Michael R. <mkatz at middlebury.edu>wrote:
>
>> Dear Anna:
>>
>> I have just retranslated The Kreutzer Sonata and it will be included in
>> my book called "The Kreuzter Sonata: The Tolstoy Family Story Contest," to
>> be published by Yale University Press in 2014. The book will also include
>> "counter-stories" by Tolstoy's wife and son, Sofiya Andreevna and Lev
>> Lvovich. I'd be glad to send you the manuscript copy of Kreuzter (to be
>> revised by the copy editor, of course), if you need it sooner than the
>> publication date.
>>
>> Michael Katz
>> ________________________________________
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