{"id":803,"date":"2010-05-14T10:01:15","date_gmt":"2010-05-14T10:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=803"},"modified":"2010-05-14T10:06:03","modified_gmt":"2010-05-14T10:06:03","slug":"the-literary-kazan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/the-literary-kazan\/","title":{"rendered":"Part III: \u00ab\u041a\u0430\u0437\u0430\u043d\u044c \u2013 \u043b\u0438\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0430\u0442\u0443\u0440\u043d\u0430\u044f\u00bb [The Literary Kazan\u2019]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m afraid I only managed to photograph \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u043f\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u044f\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u041c\u0443\u0441\u0435<\/span><\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0414\u0436\u0430\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u044e<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [the monument to Musa Jalil<\/a>] – \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u0442\u0430\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0441\u043a\u043e\u043c\u0443<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u043f\u043e\u044d<\/span>\u0442\u0443<\/em><\/strong>–<\/em><\/strong>\u043f\u0430\u0442\u0440\u0438\u043e<\/span>\u0442\u0443<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [to the Tatar poet and patriot] \u2013 from behind while in Kazan\u2019\u2026 Even though Tatar literature isn\u2019t really a part of \u2018all things Russian\u2019 in the strictest of senses \u2013 why be so strict, anyway? \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u0422\u0430\u0442\u0430\u0440\u0441\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u043d<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb <\/em><\/strong>[Tatarstan] is a part of \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u0439\u0441\u043a\u0430\u044f<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0444\u0435\u0434\u0435\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0446\u0438\u044f<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [Russian Federation], hence we are allowed to mention also excellent Tatar writers on our Russian Blog! This monument stands \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u043d\u0430<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u043f\u043b\u043e<\/span>\u0449\u0430\u0434\u0438<\/em><\/strong> 1 (<\/em><\/strong>\u043f\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0432\u043e\u0433\u043e<\/em><\/strong>) <\/em><\/strong>\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u044f<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb <\/em><\/strong>[on the 1st<\/sup> of May Square] in front of \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u043a\u0430\u0437\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u0441\u043a\u0430\u044f<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u041a\u0440\u0435\u043c\u043b\u044c<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [the Kazan\u2019 Kremlin].<\/em><\/p>\n

Kazan\u2019 is the home of many literary museums: you can find out everything you\u2019ll ever want to know about the founder modern Tatar poetry \u00ab<\/strong>\u0413\u0430\u0431\u0434\u0443<\/span>\u043b\u043b\u0430<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0422\u0443\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u0439<\/strong><\/a>\u00bb<\/strong> [Gabdulla Tuqay<\/a>] in the \u00ab<\/strong>\u043b\u0438\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0430\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439<\/strong> <\/strong>\u043c\u0443\u0437\u0435<\/span>\u0439<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0413\u0430\u0431\u0434\u0443<\/span>\u043b\u043b\u044b<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0422\u0443\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u044f<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [literary museum of Gabdulla Tuqay] and walk along the street named after him in the town \u2013 where the museum is also located. During Soviet times the poet Tuqay wasn\u2019t deemed worthy of attention nor scholarship because he had been part of \u00ab<\/strong>\u0431\u0443\u0440\u0436\u0443\u0430<\/span>\u0437\u043d\u0430\u044f<\/strong> <\/strong>\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u0430<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [bourgeois culture] of the late 19th<\/sup> century. In the past twenty years he\u2019s finally received a long overdue and most worthy come-back; both to Tatar as well as Russian culture and literary scholarship worldwide. In April this year I heard an excellent presentation on him at a conference in here Yekaterinburg and was struck by how interesting he sounds. I should get myself a copy of his poetry translated into Russian! There\u2019s a \u00ab<\/strong>\u043c\u0443\u0437\u0435\u0439<\/strong>–<\/strong>\u043a\u0432\u0430\u0440\u0442\u0438\u0440\u0430<\/strong> <\/strong>\u041c\u0443\u0441\u044b<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0414\u0436\u0430\u043b\u0438\u043b\u044f<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [museum-apartment of Musa Jalil] for further exploration of Tatar literature \u2013 something well worth indulging oneself in while in Kazan\u2019. But for lovers of traditional Russian literature there are places to go and get enlightened at too, of course! There\u2019s \u00ab<\/strong>\u043c\u0443\u0437\u0435<\/span>\u0439<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0415<\/strong>. <\/strong>\u0410<\/strong>. <\/strong>\u0411\u043e\u0440\u0430\u0442\u044b<\/span>\u043d\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0433\u043e<\/strong><\/a>\u00bb<\/strong> [museum of E. A. Boratynsky<\/a>] \u2013 a poet who in the early 19th<\/sup> century was second only to Pushkin.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

And here we have \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u0441\u0442\u0435\u0440<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u0441\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0439<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0441\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0441\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0438<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb <\/em><\/strong>[the master of Russian literature & language] \u2013 \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u041b\u0435\u0432<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u041d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u043b\u0430<\/span>\u0435\u0432\u0438\u0447<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0422\u043e\u043b\u0441\u0442\u043e<\/span>\u0439<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy] himself! The great writer has been eternalized on a painting in the main assembly hall of \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u041a\u0430\u0437\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0433\u043e\u0441\u0443\u0434\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0439<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0443\u043d\u0438\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0441\u0438\u0442\u0435<\/span>\u0442<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [Kazan State University], where he was once a student \u2013 long before he acquired that awesome beard\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no museum dedicated to Tolstoy in Kazan\u2019, but it was here that he studied \u00ab<\/strong>\u0432\u043e\u0441\u0442\u043e<\/span>\u0447\u043d\u044b\u0435<\/strong> <\/strong>\u044f\u0437\u044b\u043a\u0438<\/span><\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [eastern languages] at the university (he didn\u2019t graduate but dropped out and according to his professors he was both stubborn as a person and unwilling to learn as a student)<\/em>. Kazan\u2019 was the location where Tolstoy first started keeping a diary \u2013 the room in which he did so (it was in the university hospital where he was treated after catching a disease that shall remain unnamed\u2026) <\/em>is still available to public view today. But Tolstoy has shared his memories of Kazan\u2019 in Russian \u2013 and world! \u2013 literature in another way than just simply by way of his diaries: his famous short story \u00ab<\/strong>\u041f\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u043b\u0435<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0431\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u0430<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong><\/a> [\u201cAfter the Ball\u201d] is set in Kazan\u2019 and is about his brother Sergey, who was once in love with the daughter of an army general\u2026 The rest is, as they say, history!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s play a fun game with these pictures of \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u0443\u0447\u0430<\/span>\u0441\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0438<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u043c\u0430\u0440\u043a\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u0441\u0442\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0433\u043e<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u043a\u0440\u0443\u0436\u043a\u0430<\/span><\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0432<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u041a\u0430\u0437\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u0438<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [participants of the Marxist circle in Kazan] (Lenin\u2019s not pictured, but at this point we all know he was in it): \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u041d\u0430\u0439\u0442\u0438<\/span><\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u041c\u0430\u043a\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u043c\u0430<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0413\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u044c\u043a\u043e\u0433\u043e<\/em><\/strong><\/a>!\u00bb <\/em><\/strong>[Find Maxim Gorky<\/a>!]. This game can be rather difficult if you a)<\/strong> don\u2019t know that the famous writer back then was still going by his birth name of \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u0410\u043b\u0435\u043a\u0441\u0435<\/span>\u0439<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u041c\u0430\u043a\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u043c\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0447<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u041f\u0435\u0448\u043a\u043e<\/span>\u0432<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [Aleksey Maximovich Peshkov]; and b)<\/strong> aren\u2019t familiar with the fact that \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u0413\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [lit. \u2018Bitter\u2019] rocked an enviously bushy mustache back in the days. Oh no! I gave it away, didn\u2019t I?<\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a hard-core fan of \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441\u043e\u0446\u0440\u0435\u0430\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u0437\u043c<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [socialistic realism] \u2013 and let\u2019s be honest: who isn\u2019t?! \u2013 a place not to be missed when in Kazan\u2019 is of course \u00ab<\/strong>\u041b\u0438\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0430\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u043e<\/strong>–<\/strong>\u043c\u0435\u043c\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0439<\/strong> <\/strong>\u043c\u0443\u0437\u0435<\/span>\u0439<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0410<\/strong>. <\/strong>\u041c<\/strong>. <\/strong>\u0413\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u044c\u043a\u043e\u0433\u043e<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [The Literary Memorial Museum of A. M. Gorky]. In the basement of the museum they have recreated the bakery where the future writer \u2013 at the time still working through his \u00ab<\/strong>\u0443\u043d\u0438\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0441\u0438\u0442\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u044b<\/strong>\u00bb <\/strong>[universities] as he liked to call his education from hard manual labor and wondering around allover the great nation \u2013 worked from 1886 till 1887.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But personally to me \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u041a\u0430\u0437\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u044c<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [Kazan\u2019] is first and foremost the city of \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u0415\u0432\u0433\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u044f<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0413\u0438<\/span>\u043d\u0437\u0431\u0443\u0440\u0433<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [Yevgenia Ginzburg<\/a>] \u2013 last August I wrote here on the blog about her GULAG memoirs \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u041a\u0440\u0443\u0442\u043e<\/span>\u0439<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u043c\u0430\u0440\u0448\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u0442<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [English title: \u201cInto the Whirlwind\u201d; lit: \u201cSteep Route\u201d]. This book changed me \u2013 no matter how clich\u00e9 it might sound! This was the only trace of her I was able to find in Kazan\u2019 \u2013 in the university museum\u2026 Yevgenia Ginzburg \u2013 apart from being one of the most awesome women ever alive \u2013 was also the mother of the famous Soviet writer \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u0412\u0430\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u0438\u0439<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u0410\u043a\u0441\u0451<\/span>\u043d\u043e\u0432<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [Vasily Aksyonov<\/a>]. He was born in Kazan\u2019 in 1932 and died last summer.<\/em><\/p>\n

There is as of right now no museum of Vasily Aksyonov in Kazan\u2019 \u2013 but the work on a literary center dedicated to the Soviet writer is in progress and will most likely open sometime next year. In the mean time I had to settle for a story I heard from a woman I met at Kazan\u2019 State University \u2013 about how her grandmother knew Yevgenia Ginzburg back in the days. She would always point out that Aksyonov\u2019s mother had been a \u00ab<\/strong>\u044f<\/span><\/strong>\u0440\u043a\u0430\u044f<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0436\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0449\u0438\u043d\u0430<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [brilliant; striking woman]\u2026 When I heard this my first reaction was: \u00ab<\/strong>\u041a\u043e\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u0447\u043d\u043e<\/strong>!\u00bb <\/strong>[Of course!] Currently I\u2019m reading Aksyonov\u2019s last novel \u00ab<\/strong>\u0422\u0430\u0438<\/span>\u043d\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0435\u043d\u043d\u0430\u044f<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u0441\u0442\u044c<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [\u00abSecret Passion\u201d] about the generation of poets and dissidents in the 1960\u2019s. And I promise that a post on this is soon to come on the blog!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

I\u2019m afraid I only managed to photograph \u00ab\u043f\u0430\u043c\u044f\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a \u041c\u0443\u0441\u0435 \u0414\u0436\u0430\u043b\u0438\u043b\u044e\u00bb [the monument to Musa Jalil] – \u00ab\u0442\u0430\u0442\u0430\u0440\u0441\u043a\u043e\u043c\u0443 \u043f\u043e\u044d\u0442\u0443–\u043f\u0430\u0442\u0440\u0438\u043e\u0442\u0443\u00bb [to the Tatar poet and patriot] \u2013 from behind while in Kazan\u2019\u2026 Even though Tatar literature isn\u2019t really a part of \u2018all things Russian\u2019 in the strictest of senses \u2013 why be so strict, anyway? \u00ab\u0422\u0430\u0442\u0430\u0440\u0441\u0442\u0430\u043d\u00bb [Tatarstan]…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,178,7827,7826],"tags":[8840,8839,8380,1250,8830,8829,8831,1382,1405,8842,8837,8841,1523,8838,8836,8832,1681,8834,8833,8835],"class_list":["post-803","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-history","category-russian-life","category-when-in-russia","tag-boratynsky","tag-gabdulla-tuqay","tag-lev-nikolaevich-tolstoy","tag-russian-literature","tag-tatar-literature","tag-tatar-poets","tag-the-literary-kazan","tag-vasily-aksyonov","tag-yevgenia-ginzburg","tag-8842","tag-8837","tag-8841","tag-1523","tag-8838","tag-8836","tag-8832","tag-1681","tag-8834","tag-8833","tag-8835"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803","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\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":865,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803\/revisions\/865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}