forgotten superstars - conclusion

[Boudovskaia, Elena]

A comment on one of the names on the list: Asadov seems to be not as forgotten as one might think. I have recently talked to a 21 yo Russian girl from Moscow who says Asadov is the best poet ever. I asked her how she knew about him, she said her mother recommended him. So I guess he may be as popular in certain cirles as he used to be 30 or 40 years ago. 

I would say that Asadov's poems were so popular at some time, though not officially popular, that for some reason they belonged to city folklore rather than literature. I know that 40 years ago teenage girls recited his poems and included them in their _pesenniki_, without knowing the name of the author. Other poets of the same quality who somehow did not make it into the mass mentality and functioned only as literary figures probably did not enjoy popularity for that long. BTW, another example of the same phenomenon would be Nadson. Mayakovsky was annoyed exactly by Nadson's lasting popularity in spite of his lack of literary merit. 

I am too lazy to check if Asadov and Nadson are on any sites as lib.ru. If yes, one can compare their popularity to that of other poets and see if they are as forgotten as others on the list. 

Just my 2 cents

ElenaDear Colleagues,

Thanks to the many of you who responded so quickly.  Here's a
compilation of the names suggested (in no strict order):
 
Vladislav Ozerov, Vladimir Benediktov, Nestor Kukol'nik, Alexander
Druzhinin, Vsevolod Garshin, Gleb Uspenskii, Konstantin Fofanov,
Anastasiia Verbitskaia, Leonid Andreev, Mikhail Artsybashev, Pavel
Mel'nikov-Pecherskii, Semen Nadson, Petr Boborykin, Nikolai
Pomialovskii, Pavel Zasodimskii, Fedor Reshetnikov, Aleksandr
Amfiteatrov, Sergei Gorodetskii, Vladimir Nemerovich-Danchenko, Dmitrii
Tsenzor, Lidiia Charskaia, Apollon Maikov, Aleksei Apukhtin, Konstantin
Sluchevskii, Demian Bednyi, Viacheslav Shishkov, Petr Pavlenko,Igor'
Serverianin, Aleksandr Sheller-Mikhailov, Semen Babaevskii, Ivan
Shevtsov, Maksim Gorky, Fedor Gladkov, Panteleimon Romanov, Boris
Pil'niak, Marietta Shaginian, Lidia Seifullina, Boris Polevoi, Eduard
Asadov, Anatolii Gladilin, Vladimir Orlov.
 
(I left off Fet as someone I think most Russians have not forgotten...
But as some of you suggested this whole list has an element of personal
choice; obviously, it's not simply a question of some sort of hierarchy
of talent.  We scholars, of course, do not forget!, although I admit I
had to check on some of the first names in this list.)
 
Perhaps we should organize a conference on the topic of "forgotten
superstars"!  Quite a rich cohort.
 
Thanks again,
Marcus
 


 
 
Marcus Levitt, Associate Professor
Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
University of Southern California College of Letters, Arts and
Sciences
Los Angeles, CA 90089-4353
Fax (213) 740-8550
Tel  (213) 740-2736
Personal Web Page: http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~levitt/ 
Departmental Pages: http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/sll/ 
Personal:
http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/sll/people/faculty1003454.html

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