{"id":841,"date":"2010-05-16T10:00:25","date_gmt":"2010-05-16T10:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=841"},"modified":"2014-07-16T20:06:16","modified_gmt":"2014-07-16T20:06:16","slug":"are-you-cultured-person","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/are-you-cultured-person\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You a Cultured Person?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

The other day I was teaching my son not to throw the trash on the ground. \u00ab<\/strong>\u041c\u0443<\/span>\u0441\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0442\u044c <\/strong>\u043f\u043b\u043e<\/span>\u0445\u043e\u00bb<\/strong> [It\u2019s bad to litter], I said and then added \u00ab<\/strong>\u0438 <\/strong>\u043d\u0435\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u043e\u00bb<\/strong> [lit.: and it is uncultured]. That\u2019s when he asked me what \u00ab\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> means. Good question!<\/p>\n

Growing up in Russia, I\u2019ve heard the phrase \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439 <\/strong>\u0447\u0435\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u043a\u00bb<\/strong> [a cultured or civilized person] plenty of times. But for the life of mine I can\u2019t remember a single instance of an adult defining it for me in a clear positive way. Instead, the definition stemmed from a long list of what \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439 <\/strong>\u0447\u0435\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u043a\u00bb<\/strong> is not and doesn\u2019t do. For example, it was clear that since Katya from my first-grade class was picking her nose, she was a very \u00ab<\/strong>\u043d\u0435\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u0430\u044f <\/strong>\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u0432\u043e\u0447\u043a\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [uncultured girl]. Everyone knows that \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u043e\u0432\u044b\u0440\u044f<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f <\/strong>\u0432 <\/strong>\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0443<\/span> – <\/strong>\u043d\u0435\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u043e\u00bb<\/strong> [picking one\u2019s nose is uncultured].<\/p>\n

Same went for such acts as \u00ab\u043f\u043e\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u0437\u044b\u0432\u0430\u0442\u044c <\/strong>\u043f\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0446\u0435\u043c <\/strong>\u043d\u0430 <\/strong>\u043b\u044e\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [finger point at people], \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u043b\u0435\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [spit], \u00ab<\/strong>\u0445\u043e\u0434\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u044c <\/strong>\u043f\u043e <\/strong>\u0433\u0430\u0437\u043e<\/span>\u043d\u0430\u043c\u00bb<\/strong> [walk over the lawns], \u00ab<\/strong>\u0431\u0440\u043e\u0441\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c <\/strong>\u0444\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u0442\u0438\u043a\u0438 <\/strong>\u043d\u0430 <\/strong>\u0437\u0435<\/span>\u043c\u043b\u044e\u00bb<\/strong> [throw candy wrappers on the ground], \u00ab<\/strong>\u0445\u0430\u043c\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u044c <\/strong>\u0432\u0437\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u043b\u044b\u043c\u00bb<\/strong> [be rude to adults] and \u00ab<\/strong>\u0440\u0443\u0433\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f <\/strong>\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u043e\u043c\u00bb<\/strong> [curse].<\/p>\n

Obviously, to be a cultured person one had to behave well at all times. Easy enough to remember and pretty straightforward, isn\u2019t it? Except in the fifth grade our Russian language teacher, Natalya Grigorievna, threw a monkey wrench into the picture. Reviewing the not-too-impressive results of the latest \u00ab<\/strong>\u0434\u0438\u043a\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> [dictation exercise] she said that \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439 <\/strong>\u0447\u0435\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u043a <\/strong>\u043d\u0435 <\/strong>\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u043b\u0430\u0435\u0442 <\/strong>\u043e\u0440\u0444\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430\u0444\u0438<\/span>\u0447\u0435\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0445 <\/strong>\u043e\u0448\u0438<\/span>\u0431\u043e\u043a\u00bb<\/strong> [cultured person does not make grammatical errors]. Say what?!<\/p>\n

And since she was also our Russian literature teacher, she insisted that \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u0436\u0434\u044b\u0439 <\/strong>\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439 <\/strong>\u0447\u0435\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u043a <\/strong>\u043e\u0431\u044f<\/span>\u0437\u0430\u043d <\/strong>\u0447\u0438\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c <\/strong>\u041f\u0443<\/span>\u0448\u043a\u0438\u043d\u0430 <\/strong>\u0438 <\/strong>\u041b\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u043c\u043e\u043d\u0442\u043e\u0432\u0430\u00bb <\/strong>[every cultured person must read Pushkin and Lermontov].<\/p>\n

Of course, by then our other teachers started pitching in and soon the list of things a cultured person must know\/read\/be able to write or solve or conduct an experiment with became overly long. Turns out, \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439 <\/strong>\u0447\u0435\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u043a\u00bb<\/strong> must not only behave a certain way, but must also \u00ab<\/strong>\u0437\u043d\u0430\u0442\u044c <\/strong>\u0438 <\/strong>\u0438\u043d\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0441\u043e\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [know and be interested in] certain things.<\/p>\n

Russians are very taken with the idea of \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [culture] and \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439 <\/strong>\u0447\u0435\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u043a\u00bb<\/strong> [cultured person]. They talk about people and institutions as possessing a certain level of culture. The progression goes from \u00ab<\/strong>\u0431\u0435\u0437\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [uncultured] to \u00ab<\/strong>\u043d\u0438\u0437\u043a\u043e\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [of little culture] to \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [cultured] until it reaches the apex in \u00ab<\/strong>\u0432\u044b\u0441\u043e\u043a\u043e\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [of high culture].<\/p>\n

But if you look for a line that separates these different levels or a defined scale that measures \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> [\u201cculturedness<\/em>\u201d or amount of culture present in an individual], you won\u2019t find one. Instead, you\u2019ll find plenty of confusion.<\/p>\n

In every Russian town and in many small townships there\u2019s at least one \u00ab<\/strong>\u0414\u043e\u043c <\/strong>\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u044b\u00bb<\/strong> [House of culture]. In a larger city, you will likely find \u00ab<\/strong>\u0414\u0432\u043e\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0446 <\/strong>\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u044b\u00bb<\/strong> [Palace of culture]. These \u00ab<\/strong>\u0414K\u00bb,<\/strong> pronounced DE-KAH, are centers for social and cultural activities. Yet these placed are frequently criticized for allowing \u00ab<\/strong>\u0431\u0435\u0437\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u044c\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [lack of culture] or not fighting it enough.<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u0410\u0440\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0441\u0442\u044b, <\/strong>\u0445\u0443\u0434\u043e<\/span>\u0436\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0438, <\/strong>\u043f\u0435\u0432\u0446\u044b<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [entertainers, artists, singers] are thought of generally as people of culture. Yet not every single artist or musician qualifies to be \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb.<\/strong> As the old joke goes, an authentically cultured person will never describe himself as \u201ca loather and a penniless idiot\u201d and instead go for \u201cI am a creative type\u201d.<\/p>\n

Education is definitely an important component, yet \u00ab<\/strong>\u043c\u043e<\/span>\u0436\u043d\u043e <\/strong>\u0431\u044b\u0442\u044c <\/strong>\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u044b\u043c <\/strong>\u0447\u0435\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u043a\u043e\u043c <\/strong>\u0438 <\/strong>\u0431\u0435\u0437 <\/strong>\u0432\u044b<\/span>\u0441\u0448\u0435\u0433\u043e <\/strong>\u043e\u0431\u0440\u0430\u0437\u043e\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [it\u2019s possible to be a cultured person even without a college degree].<\/p>\n

Thankfully, a couple of \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u043e\u0433\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [cultural studies scholars] from Moscow conducted a study of an image of a cultured person as perceived by college students. Turns out, a person of high culture would be someone who is well-mannered (Mom was right) and educated (my school teachers were right too), but also \u00ab<\/strong>\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0436\u043b\u0438\u0432\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [polite], \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441\u043a\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u043c\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [modest], \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0438\u044f<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [pleasant], \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441 <\/strong>\u0447\u0443<\/span>\u0432\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e\u043c <\/strong>\u0434\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u0433\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [with strong sense of duty] and ability to overlook others\u2019 shortcomings.<\/p>\n

If this sounds like a lot of work, it sure is. But take heart in the following lines by Russian poet Nikolay Zabolotsky<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u041d\u0435 \u043f\u043e\u0437\u0432\u043e\u043b\u044f<\/span>\u0439 \u0434\u0443\u0448\u0435<\/span> \u043b\u0435\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u0427\u0442\u043e\u0431 \u0432 \u0441\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u043f\u0435 \u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u0443 \u043d\u0435 \u0442\u043e\u043b\u043e<\/span>\u0447\u044c, <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u0414\u0443\u0448\u0430<\/span> \u043e\u0431\u044f<\/span>\u0437\u0430\u043d\u0430 \u0442\u0440\u0443\u0434\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u0418 \u0434\u0435\u043d\u044c \u0438 \u043d\u043e\u0447\u044c, \u0438 \u0434\u0435\u043d\u044c \u0438 \u043d\u043e\u0447\u044c.\u00bb<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do not let your soul to idle!<\/p>\n

To avoid wasting time on mundane<\/p>\n

The soul must work, it must labor<\/p>\n

Night and day, night and day.<\/p>\n

P.S.<\/strong> If you know a better way to translate the above, let me know!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

The other day I was teaching my son not to throw the trash on the ground. \u00ab\u041c\u0443\u0441\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0442\u044c \u043f\u043b\u043e\u0445\u043e\u00bb [It\u2019s bad to litter], I said and then added \u00ab\u0438 \u043d\u0435\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443\u0440\u043d\u043e\u00bb [lit.: and it is uncultured]. That\u2019s when he asked me what \u00ab\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb means. Good question! Growing up in Russia, I\u2019ve heard the phrase \u00ab\u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0447\u0435\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0435\u043a\u00bb [a…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[8792,8793,1227,8791],"class_list":["post-841","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-language","tag-cultured-person","tag-person-of-culture","tag-russian-culture","tag-russian-education"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841","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=841"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6158,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841\/revisions\/6158"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}