Soviet war in Afghanistan in Russian popular culture (a list of your responses) = Thank you!

[Monnier, Nicole M.]

Dear SEELANGStsy,

A most grateful "thank you" to all who replied on-list and off regarding my query about the Soviet war in Afghanistan. For those who might be interested, here is a compilation of those responses:

Films

・      Cargo 200 (2007, dir. Aleksei Balabanov)

・      9aia rota (9th Company, 2005, dir. Fedor Bondarchuk). Stephen Norris has a forthcoming book devoted to the film: _Blockbuster History_

・      Musul’manin (1995, dir. Vladimir Khotinenko)

・      Dukhovnye golosa (Spiritual Voices, 1995, dir. Aleksandr Sokurov; documentary)

・      Peshavarskii val's (Peshewar Waltz, 1994, dir. Timur Bekmambetov)

・      Noga (The Leg, 1991, Nikita Tiagunov)

・      Afganskii izlom (Afghan Breakdown, 1990, dir. Vladimir Bortko)

History/scholarship

・      Braithwaite, Sir Rodric (former British ambassador to USSR). _Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979-89_

・      Feifer, Gregory. _The Great Gamble: The Soviet War in Afghanistan_

・      Kalinovsky, Artemy. _A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan_

・      Oushakin, Serguei, _Patriotism of Despair_ (not devoted to Afghanistan per se, but relevant)

・      Tamarov, Vladislav. _Afghanistan: A Russian Soldier's Story_ (photo essay with commentary by author who was a minesweeper).

Fiction (in English):

・      Alexievich, Svetlana. _Zinky Boys_ (multiple respondents noted the “teachability” of this particular text)

・      Oleg Yermakov, _Afghan Stories_ Afganskie rasskazy" ("Zheltaia gora"/ "Yellow Mountain," etc.)

・      "Zinky Boys" by Svetlana Alexievich (see  http://www.amazon.com/Zinky-Boys-Soviet-Voices-Afghanistan/dp/0393336867/ref=la_B001JOE0N4_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1339015199&sr=1-2) would be an obvious first choice for me.

I also received the name of a Ukrainian author and Afghan veteran, Vasil Slapchuk, but haven’t found anything of his in English.
Songs/music:

・      Rozenbaum, Aleksandr. “Black Tulip” YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL76a9R0yIU

・      Blue Berets (Голубые береты), the official ensemble of the Airborne Forces (VDV) began as amateur regiment ensemble in Kabul and are considered the creators of the "Afghan" song (афганская песня), including such songs as "Pamiat', ""U opasnoi cherty," Desant ukhodit v proryv."  There is a detailed article about them in "Учительская газета" (http://www.ug.ru/archive/12561); they also have an official site (berety.ru<http://berety.ru/>):


The indispensable June Farris at the University of Chicago Regenstein Library provided the following search info:
Afghanistan Soviet occupation personal narratives:

・      Limit by language to English and you’ll get 88 matches (some will duplicate each other).

Afghanistan Soviet occupation history:

・      Limit by language to English and you’ll get 2100+ items

Afghanistan Soviet occupation fiction

・      Limit by language to English and you’ll get 85 matches

・      If you limit those matches to “Authors”.  Most will be western authors, but a few are translations from Russian to English, such as:

And finally, leave it to Wikipedia to have a page devoted to “Soviet War in Afghanistan in popular culture”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_war_in_Afghanistan_in_popular_culture

Gratefully,

Nicole


****************************
Dr. Nicole Monnier
Associate Teaching Professor of Russian
Director of Undergraduate Studies (Russian)
German & Russian Studies
428A Strickland (formerly GCB)
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211

phone: 573.882.3370

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