Short Story in Translation: Russian Citizenship and National Identity

[Stefani, Sara Marie]

In my survey course, I use three stories by Nabokov that all deal, at least to some extent, with the questions of citizenship and national identity: "Spring in Fialta," "The Return of Chorb," and "The Visit to the Museum." They all go over well with the students. Also, Zoshchenko's stories are wonderful in this regard, with the perspective of the confused "new" Soviet citizen who still hasn't figured out what it means to be Soviet. Evgeny Zamyatin's story "X" is also a good one in that same vein - the main character is in love with a woman named Marfa, and he gets "Marfism" and "Marxism" confused. He's a firm believer in Marfism! That story is available in translation in Mirra Ginsburg's collection of Zamyatin's stories. 

In addition to "The Gentleman from San Francisco," Bunin's story "In Paris" (available in the collection "Russian Short Stories from Pushkin to Buida" edited by Robert Chandler) is heartbreaking and beautiful.  In that same collection, for an earlier, 19th-century work, there is "The Steel Flea" by Leskov, also translated in other volumes as "Lefty." 

Good luck to your friend!
sms



Sara Stefani

Assistant Professor

Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

Indiana University

________________________________________
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [SEELANGS at listserv.ua.edu] on behalf of Benjamin Rifkin [rifkin at TCNJ.EDU]
Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2013 3:57 PM
To: SEELANGS at listserv.ua.edu
Subject: [SEELANGS] Short Story in Translation:  Russian Citizenship and National Identity

Dear SEELANGers:

A colleague of mine in history is teaching a course next semester on citizenship and national identity in the European context.  He asked me to recommend a short story written by a Russian writer, widely available in translation for his students who don't read in Russian, to include in his syllabus.

My thoughts run in a thousand different directions on this question and I've come up with numerous films that I think are relevant, but I'm wondering if you might recommend some short stories by Russian authors that could be found in translation that perhaps have worked well for you in this or a related context.

With thanks and best wishes,

Ben Rifkin
The College of New Jersey

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