I don't know, even in translation, it's hard to think of an English translation of
Pushkin that manages to convey why for many Russians he's considered to have
invented Russian poetry, and I don't know Russian, but perhaps someone else
on the list will answer your more fundamental questions, Ken. Googling turned
up these two articles, one a TLR review of a Pushkin biography, etc, where
there's a glancing look at these poems
http://www.arlindo-correia.com/pushkin.html
Though I found this url most interesting for its look at "mat" and perhaps some
of the cultural forces at work in the issue,
http://www.kenai-peninsula.org/archives/000023.html
best,
Rebecca
---- Original message ----
>Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 17:14:14 -0500
>From: Kenneth Wolman <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: "Russian literary giant Pushkin labelled as a peddler of porn"
>To: [log in to unmask]
>
>At 03:54 PM 1/30/2005, you wrote:
>>Thanks Ivy - bizarre and disturbing. Imagine a bookshop being prosecuted
>>for obscenity for selling Romeo and Juliet!
>>
>>Does anyone here know the poems referred to?
>
>Isn't someone on this list familiar with Russian minus the
>translations? If it's a false accusation, what could be the motive for
>smearing Pushkin and Lermontov? If it's true...so what? Which of
>Pushkin's works do the schoolkids learn, anyway?
>
>ken
>
>-------------------------------------------------
>
>Kenneth Wolman www.kenwolman.com kenwolman.blogspot.com
>
>"This is the best of all possible worlds only because it is the only one
>that showed up."-- Russell Edson
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