{"id":2607,"date":"2012-02-28T08:00:26","date_gmt":"2012-02-28T08:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=2607"},"modified":"2012-02-28T03:10:36","modified_gmt":"2012-02-28T03:10:36","slug":"another-meaning-of-sputni","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/another-meaning-of-sputni\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Meaning of Sputnik"},"content":{"rendered":"

I loved Rob’s comment on my Valentine’s day post<\/a>. \u00a0If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you might remember Rob’s previous guest posts, including Chemistry for Muggles<\/a>\u00a0as well as his exhaustively researched comments, both on the blog and on the Facebook page<\/a>. This particular comment was so amazing that I figured, it needed to be more visible (with Rob’s kind permission). Without further ado, here’s Rob:<\/p>\n

From memory, here\u2019s a two-line Russian \u201cpoem\u201d about love, author unknown, circa 1993:<\/p>\n

\u0412\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u043f\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u043d\u044c, \u043d\u043e\u0440\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0439,
\n\u0418<\/span>\u0449\u0435\u0442 \u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0430 \u0436\u0438<\/span>\u0437\u043d\u0438.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I never met the author and don\u2019t know his name; I doubt he had any intentions to be a poet, and I\u2019m sure he would have laughed at the idea that his short\u00a0\u043e\u0431\u044a\u044f\u0432\u043b\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u0435<\/strong>\u00a0(ad; announcement) in the\u00a0\u0417\u043d\u0430\u043a\u043e<\/span>\u043c\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430<\/strong>\u00a0(Personals) section of a \u0431\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439<\/strong>\u00a0(low-brow; vulgar) tabloid newspaper was anything close to \u201cpoetry\u201d! Certainly, there\u2019s nothing original or imaginative in the six words; it\u2019s a rather standard and clich\u00e9d first sentence in a \u201cseeking love\u201d ad.<\/p>\n

But it was poetry for me, as an American student of Russian who was teaching English in Moscow, as a 22-year-old homosexual who had just finished university and had only recently \u201ccome out of the closet\u201d; who had already met some young gay and lesbian Russians, and who understood that their futures as gay people in Russia would be a bit more difficult than my own future when I returned home to America.<\/p>\n

For me, back in 1993, there was so much significance packed up in that short ad, which struck me like a haunting\u00a0\u043a\u0440\u0438\u043a \u0434\u0443\u0448\u0438<\/span> \u0438\u0437 \u0442\u044e\u0440\u044c\u043c\u044b<\/span> \u043e\u0434\u0438\u043d\u043e<\/span>\u0447\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430<\/strong>\u00a0(the scream of a soul from the prison of loneliness).<\/p>\n

The ad probably appeared (if my memory is correct) in the back pages of\u00a0\u0421\u041f\u0418\u0414-\u0418\u043d\u0444\u043e<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 which, in 1993, may have been the only Moscow publication that was willing to print gay\/lesbian personals ads. (By the way,\u00a0\u0421\u041f\u0418\u0414-\u0418\u043d\u0444\u043e<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0literally translates as\u00a0AIDS Info<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 but make no mistake, this was not a sober-minded educational journal intended to teach the public about AIDS and \u201csafe sex\u201d; it was a sleazy tabloid with celebrity sex-gossip and blurry B&W pictures of pretty women showing their breasts, and aimed mostly \u2014 though not exclusively \u2014 at heterosexual men. I used to buy it because I\u2019d figured out that it was a good source for slang terms that you don\u2019t learn in a college Russian course, such as\u00a0\u0442\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0445\u0430\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f<\/strong>\u00a0(to screw\/bang\/shag).<\/p>\n

So if the same two lines of Russian had appeared in a Brighton Beach newspaper in 1993, they would not have had quite the same Romantic impact for me \u2014 they would have seemed less like a\u00a0\u043f\u043e\u0441\u043b\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u0435 \u0432 \u0431\u0443\u0442\u044b<\/span>\u043b\u043a\u0435, \u043e\u0434\u043d\u043e\u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u043d\u043e \u043f\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u043e\u0442\u0447\u0430<\/span>\u044f\u043d\u0438<\/strong>\u044f \u0438 \u043d\u0430\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u0436\u0434<\/strong>\u044b<\/strong>\u00a0(a message in a bottle, simultaneously full of despair and hope) \u2014 because by 1993, prospects for gays in America were considerably brighter than in Russia.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also possible that the words sounded more \u201cpoetic\u201d to me, as a learner of Russian, than they would to a native speaker. The expression\u00a0\u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a\/\u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u0446\u0430 \u0436\u0438<\/span>\u0437\u043d\u0438<\/strong>\u00a0was quite new to me then, and it struck me as a wonderful, colorful, \u043a\u0440\u044b\u043b\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u043e\u0435 \u0432\u044b\u0440\u0430\u0436\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u0435<\/strong>\u00a0(\u201cunforgettably catchy phrase\u201d; literally \u201cwinged expression\u201d), though perhaps to a Russian it\u2019s only a moth-eaten banality one sees in \u0417\u043d\u0430\u043a\u043e<\/span>\u043c\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430<\/strong> ads.<\/p>\n

Let me try to explain the wonderful genius that this phrase holds for a foreign student of Russian. Every English speaker knows the word \u201csputnik\u201d, but for most of us, it\u2019s simply the name of a\u00a0beep-beep-beep<\/em>-ing metallic object, smaller than a basketball, that the Soviets launched into orbit in 1957. However, when you\u2019re a beginning student of Russian, they teach you that\u00a0\u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a<\/strong>\u00a0is actually the generic Russian term for \u201csatellite\u201d, including natural satellites \u2014 so the Jovian moons Io, Ganymede, Europa, etc., are\u00a0\u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0438 \u042e\u043f\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0430<\/strong>, \u201csatellites of Jupiter.\u201d A bit later, your teachers explain that \u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a<\/strong>\u00a0can also refer to a person, with the meaning \u201ctraveling companion\u201d, and that when used in this sense, it also has a feminine form,\u00a0\u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u0446\u0430<\/strong>. And even later, you are taught how to analyze the Slavic etymology of Russian words: the-\u043f\u0443\u0442-<\/strong>\u00a0in\u00a0\u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a<\/strong>\u00a0is related to the noun\u00a0\u043f\u0443\u0442\u044c<\/strong>\u00a0(\u201cway\u201d or \u201cpath\u201d), and from the same root comes words like\u00a0\u043f\u043e\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442<\/strong>\u0447\u0438\u043a<\/strong>, which was sometimes translated into English as \u201cfellow traveler,\u201d a Cold War euphemism for \u201cCommunist.\u201d But\u00a0\u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a<\/strong>\u00a0and \u043f\u043e\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442<\/strong>\u0447\u0438\u043a<\/strong>\u00a0are not identical, because the prefix\u00a0\u0441-<\/strong>\u00a0suggests a closer and more intimate connection than\u00a0\u043f\u043e-<\/strong>\u00a0does\u2026 [etc.]<\/p>\n

So \u2014 with the above in mind \u2014 if you\u2019re an American student of Russian in 1993, and you see the phrase\u00a0\u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a\/\u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u0446\u0430 \u0436\u0438<\/span>\u0437\u043d\u0438<\/strong>\u00a0in the \u201cPersonals\u201d section of a Russian newspaper, you quickly understand from the context that the meaning is close to \u201clife partner\u201d or \u201csignificant other\u201d. But, recalling your professor\u2019s explanation of the difference between\u00a0\u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0\u043f\u043e\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442<\/strong>\u0447\u0438\u043a<\/strong>, you know that \u201clife partner\u201d totally fails to capture the metaphorical color of the Russian.<\/p>\n

After thinking about it for a while, I decided that an appropriately poetic and idiomatic translation of \u201c\u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a\/\u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u0446\u0430 \u0436\u0438<\/span>\u0437\u043d\u0438<\/strong>\u201d would be:<\/p>\n

\u201ca driving buddy for the road-trip of life.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anyway, there was another surprise waiting for me. Probably 95% (or more) of the population is heterosexual. Thus, if you saw the phrase\u00a0\u201c\u2026\u0438<\/span>\u0449\u0435\u0442 \u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u0446\u0443<\/strong>\u00a0\u0436\u0438<\/span>\u0437\u043d\u0438\u201d<\/em>\u00a0in an ad, you could generally be sure that the subject of the verb\u00a0\u0438\u0441\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c<\/strong>\u00a0(\u201cto seek; to look for\u201d) was\u00a0\u043c\u0443\u0436\u0447\u0438<\/span>\u043d\u0430 <\/strong>(a man),\u00a0\u043f\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u043d\u044c <\/strong>(a guy), or\u00a0\u043c\u0443\u0436\u0438<\/span>\u043a <\/strong>(a man); and if you saw\u00a0\u201c\u044f \u0438\u0449\u0443<\/span> \u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0430<\/strong>\u00a0\u0436\u0438<\/span>\u0437\u043d\u0438\u201d<\/em>, you could safely assume that\u00a0\u201c\u044f\u201d<\/em>\u00a0was a\u00a0\u0436\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0449\u0438\u043d\u0430 <\/strong>(a woman)\u00a0or\u00a0\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u0432\u0443\u0448\u043a\u0430 <\/strong>(a girl).<\/p>\n

And thus it came as a moment of astonishment when I read the words\u00a0\u201c\u043f\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u043d\u044c \u0438<\/span>\u0449\u0435\u0442 \u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0430<\/strong>\u2026\u201d<\/em>, and I had to stop and remind myself that both\u00a0\u043f\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u043d\u044c<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0\u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a<\/strong>\u00a0were nouns\u00a0\u043c\u0443\u0436\u0441\u043a\u043e<\/span>\u0433\u043e \u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u0430<\/strong>\u00a0(\u201cof masculine gender\u201d)!<\/p>\n

Thus, a\u00a0\u043f\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u043d\u044c<\/strong>\u00a0(guy) was looking for another male\u2026 not as a mere\u00a0\u043f\u0430\u0440\u0442\u043d\u0451<\/span>\u0440<\/strong>\u00a0(which can signify \u201csex-partner\u201d), but as a \u201ctraveling companion on Life\u2019s journey\u201d. More than that, the\u00a0\u043f\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u043d\u044c<\/strong>\u00a0had described himself as\u00a0\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439<\/strong>\u00a0(honest and loyal), and also\u00a0\u043d\u043e\u0440\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0439 <\/strong>(ordinary).<\/p>\n

Usually, if a Russian writing a Personals ad describes himself\/herself as\u00a0\u043d\u043e\u0440\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0439\/\u043d\u043e\u0440\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0430\u044f<\/strong>, you can translate it as \u201cordinary, likeable, down-to-earth\u201d. But I would assume that for a gay or lesbian in Russia, the word might have a more assertive meaning: \u201cI am\u00a0not abnormal<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Googling, I find that\u00a0sputnik zhizni<\/em>\u00a0is still a popular phrase today, for heterosexuals and homosexuals alike. And nowadays, the expression does not, and cannot, have the same poetic quality that it did back then \u2014 because the Internet has taken away much of the\u00a0\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043d\u043e<\/span>\u0447\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e<\/strong>\u00a0that was once the daily reality for Russian gays and other small minorities.<\/p>\n

But\u00a0\u0412\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u043f\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u043d\u044c, \u043d\u043e\u0440\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0439, \u0438<\/span>\u0449\u0435\u0442 \u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0430 \u0436\u0438<\/span>\u0437\u043d\u0438<\/strong>\u00a0seemed like poetry to me in 1993, and\u00a0\u0441\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a \u0436\u0438<\/span>\u0437\u043d\u0438<\/strong>\u00a0will always have a poetic quality…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I loved Rob’s comment on my Valentine’s day post. \u00a0If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you might remember Rob’s previous guest posts, including Chemistry for Muggles\u00a0as well as his exhaustively researched comments, both on the blog and on the Facebook page. This particular comment was so amazing that I figured, it needed…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[1137,1227,1248,1298,117529],"class_list":["post-2607","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-culture","category-language","tag-life-in-russia","tag-russian-culture","tag-russian-language","tag-russian-words","tag-sputnik"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2607"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2608,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2607\/revisions\/2608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}