Threshold

actually i'm back:)))
Jena, I've been wondering about you for a long time, fascinated even, - you have learned Russian ..why? i am guessing that there is at least the fascination with the culture. But i want to hear from you (if you feel like talking) what you think about Russians and Russian culture and language. I don't know how much you have seen of the world but you're a poet - you know your own American culture probably more than anyone BECAUSE you're a poet. If you could answer it would be like a gift for me - you cannot imagine how much I have wondered about those things - what makes a culture, what makes cultures stand apart from each other or blend in or "become friends". You, an insider and an inheritant of one culture appreciating and making steps forward toward another - your thoughts and perceptions are really really priceless for us on the other side of the cultural border.

With deepest respect,
Natasha

Хотылёва   26.07.2004 06:41   Заявить о нарушении

Dear Natasha, first of all, I'm not American, but Australian. (There are still substantial differences, despite what the current climate may suggest.:))
Your question - Why Russian? - is one I both welcome and dread, because it is something I have asked myself many times, but so far without being able to give a comprehensive answer.
I first encountered Russian literature and language as a university student, and the literature, even in translation, made such an impact on me that I was motivated to attempt to learn the language, so as to have more direct access to the poetry and fiction. I didn't realise then that I'd set myself a lifetime task, one I shall probably never complete to my satisfaction, although the journey has been so enthralling that I don't really want it to end.
My native Australian culture constitutes a curious case. This island-continent is home to some of the oldest cultures on earth, side by side with one of the newest. It is tragic, but true, that the ancient and the modern have little in common, and this has led to a history of mutual incomprehension, and a belated respect for the old on the part of the new - but only after indefensible wrongs had been committed. Modern Australian culture has roots from many lands, but is predominantly at one remove from the Anglo-Celtic. In terms of psychogeography, we are isolated at heart. And, I would venture to say, spiritually hungry. Some of us sense this more than others.
I have always responded intensely to literature, especially poetry - and in fact, to all the arts - but the literature that has made the most profound impression is Russian, not only the canonical works, but also the recorded oral tradition. For me, Russian literature has nourished the spirit in a way that other literatures haven't to the same degree, although I continue to read eclectically, and, like most readers, love particular works or particular writers from many different sources.
So in answer to your question, poetry is the key, I suppose, the point of contact, point of entry, and the cultural context cannot be excluded from that. In describing my own response I realise I am not saying anything new, but echoing what has been expressed by a great many others before me. Anybody who cares about literature must sooner or later become aware of the Russian literary tradition. By now it is generally understood that Russian literature, and by implication the culture that produced it, is of huge significance to world culture.
I can't imagine now what might have satisfied that craving I had for writing that could elicit a total response, had I not been introduced to the Russian writers at an early age.

I don't think one can generalise about people, whether Australian or Russian, without distorting something or offending someone. All I can say is that I have formed only positive impressions of the Russian people I have come into contact with. To me personally, Russians seem very special, on account of the depth of their humanity and inimitable spirit, which, in comparison with my own culture, for instance, is imbued with a quality of intense lyricism that is discernible in much of the art.
I think Russians are aware of how rich and marvellous their heritage is, and how impoverished the world would be without it. It is hardly surprising that people of other cultural backgrounds are fascinated and attracted by it. Culture reflects values, and in turn helps to shape them. There is much to discover in the world of Russian art.

Borders are both real in some sense, and imaginary. Some human activities, like creating poetry and stories, music, theatre, film, dance, painting, and other artforms, transcend borders. So, I believe, do some basic human qualities, once activated, such as goodwill, healthy curiosity, the desire to understand something of other people's worlds and learn from them…
In my view, culture as such need not create divisions, although sometimes ideology can.
One reason I like cyberspace is that it can help to minimise borders…

With warm regards, Jena

Jena Woodhouse   26.07.2004 11:53   Заявить о нарушении