Tag Archives: russian history
A History of Kiev, Part 1 Posted by Natalie on Dec 22, 2010
«Киев—очень старый город» [Kiev is a very old city], so there’s a lot to learn about its history. I’ll be splitting up these posts on «история Киева» [the history of Kiev] into multiple parts to make them more manageable. There exists «легенда» [a legend] concerning «основание Киева» [the founding of Kiev]. According to this legend…
Feodor Chaliapin Posted by Natalie on Nov 29, 2010
Who is singing in this video, and what is he singing? Read on to find out. «Дорогие читатели!» [Dear readers!] «Как прошли выходные?» [How was your weekend?] Mine was quite lovely–I went to a bookstore, read a book «о Сталине» [about Stalin], and drank «какао» [cocoa, hot chocolate]. And yes, I know Stalin is not…
Uglich Posted by Natalie on Nov 26, 2010
For those of you who don’t know, I have three main passions in life: «история, классическая музыка и литература» [history, classical music, and literature]. And, I suppose, there is a fourth one as well: writing about those three main topics, especially in relation to Russia. So today, we are going to learn «об Угличе» [about…
Looking for Russian Holiday to Celebrate? Posted by yelena on Nov 3, 2010
«Какой русский не любит праздновать» [What kind of a Russian doesn’t like to celebrate]! Russians celebrate with «смак» [gusto] both the well-established holidays and the newly adopted ones. Holidays that lose their «блеск» [luster] are never discarded, but instead reinvented. And even the ones that get forgotten or cast aside tend to «возрождаться» [reappear]…
Russia Cannot Be Understood by the Mind Alone… or Can It? Posted by yelena on Sep 3, 2010
The infamous line “Russia cannot be understood by the mind alone” is one of those must-know Russian phrases that comes up pretty much constantly in many situations. It lends itself happily to a collection of jokes and funny images that, like the photo above, seem to confirm that Russia is indeed a land of…
Part II: «Казань – ленинская» [Lenin’s Kazan’] Posted by josefina on May 10, 2010
«Казанский государственный университет» [Kazan’ State University] is since 1925 and still today «имени Владимира Ильича Ульянова–Ленина» [named after Vladimir Il’ich Ul’yanov-Lenin]. And in front of the university’s main building we have a very young «Володя Ульянов» [Volodya Ul’yanov] – aged seventeen and not yet aware of his imminent expulsion from the university… In August 1887…
A Russian Post-modern Classic: Венедикт Ерофеев’s «Москва-Петушки» Posted by josefina on Apr 16, 2010
The post-modern pseudo-autobiographical classic «”Москва–Петушки” Венедикта Ерофеева» [“Moscow-Petushki” by Venedikt Yerofeev] has been translated into English as “Moscow to the End of the Line”, “Moscow Stations” and “Moscow Circles” (all of the above are very correct titles). But it should of course be read «в подлиннике» [in the original] – as should all other «произведения…