Olga E. Kagan

Poshlost and Nabokov's Posh-lust

Rebecca Calinsky

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  “The absence of a particular expression in the vocabulary of a nation does not necessarily coincide with the absence of the corresponding notion but it certainly impairs the fullness and readiness of the latter’s perception.” —Vladimir Nabokov

  Poshlost, a Russian word for which native Russian speakers claim there is no English equivalent, is introduced to English speakers in Vladimir Nabokov’s critical biography Nikolai Gogol. It is Nabokov’s belief that this word embodies the very essence of characters found in Gogol‘s Dead Souls. But what does poshlost mean? In Nabokov’s descriptions of the word, this definition is not explicit as never once does he tell the reader how Russians define it. Instead, he addresses instances of poshlost found in situations concerning a wide variety of topics from materialism to German culture. He subsequently goes on to describe the plump physical characteristics of poshlost, yet whether the word was meant to embrace such qualities is doubtful. Nabokov‘s attempt to relay to his readers its meaning only spawns the creation of a whole new word he dubs “poshlust,” in which a “u” has been put in place of the second “o.” While more phonetic-friendly, his poshlust leaves new implications for the word that never before existed and serve no purpose other than to make the term more appealing to English-speaking readers. His poshlust becomes posh-lust, suggesting an overpowering and even sexual desire for the posh. It is his posh-lust and not Russia‘s poshlost that he speaks of in his analysis.

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Scandal: Dostoevsky's Theater of Ideas

Erin Grimm

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  In this paper I suggest that the chief function of scandal is to dramatize the ideological underpinnings of Dostoevsky‘s works. Through scandal scenes, author and reader work together to realize a multi-faceted truth that is expressed dramatically to the reader. Author, character and reader are linked in their need to endure inescapable discomfort, making scandal a means by which Dostoevsky‘s ideological priorities become the reader’s priorities.

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The Miracle of Belief in Dostoevsky's Братья Карамазовы

Anna Kovalchuk

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  Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel The Brothers Karamazov grapples with the role miracles play in the progression of personal belief. The proclaimed hero, Alyosha, a novice monk and man, experiences a testing of his faith once outside the monastic walls. Alyosha’s youthful faith, grounded in and conditional upon his very nature, is tested through Ivan’s polemic of the Grand Inquisitor, the death of the elder Zosima coupled with the corruption of his body, as well as the character of Grushenka. Throughout the novel, Alyosha acquires a more strengthened belief system, one not contingent upon personal disposition but resting upon a universal connection to humanity. Miracles which stem from this teeming humanity are shown to be the most affirmative of God’s will, while those resulting from a realist’s necessary faith are both dangerous and misleading. Alyosha’s heroism is thus established by this process of change and growth.

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Korney Chukovsky's Writing for Children in Soviet Russia

Maryna Pecherska

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  During the early 1900s children's literature was deteriorating due to the overuse of revolutionary ideologies, and by the 1920s it had almost disappeared in the dogma of the new communist government. The over-politicized children's books were filled with morals and lessons. The imagination of the young readers was forgotten until Korney Chukovsky began publishing his wild and imaginative stories. By applying stylistic devices of the avant-garde and modernist eras, Korney Chukovsky created a new kind of children's literature appealing to the young readers' social, spiritual, and emotional needs. Fighting bans and criticism, Chukovsky, through poems such as "The Crocodile," "The Cockroach" and "Moidodyr," gave rise to children's literature as a genre that people know and love until this day.

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Adaptation of Russian Orphans in the United States

Alex Wang

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  The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of how different external conditions influence the adjustment of Russian orphans in the United States by comparing the interviews of two adopted orphans who underwent different post-adoptive environments. One of these orphans was subjected to conditions of complete assimilation with cultural replacement while the other received some degree of cultural retention. The challenges that the orphans endured during the process of assimilating included linguistic and cultural barriers, in addition to the challenges of being displaced from family. Each adoptee was examined in terms of their responses to questions about their pre- and post-adoptive environment as well as their current level of adjustment. 

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Lost in Translation: Winnie-the-Pooh in Russian and English

Xenia Tashlitsky

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  In translations of children’s literature, the balance between conveying the meaning of individual words and the message of the work as a whole often tips towards communicating the spirit and style of the author rather than the word-for-word translation of the text. Zahar Shavit alleges that the literary community does not apply the same standards of accuracy to translations of children’s literature because children’s literature is at the bottom of the literary food chain. However, Riitta Oittinen asserts that the literary community benefits when children’s books are translated in accordance with the cultural context of the reading audience. I would like to argue that we should expand our criteria for evaluating translations to include not only textual accuracy but cultural relevance. In other words, we should ask not only “Is this translation accurate?” but also “Is this translation appropriate for the message of the author in the context of the age, society, and culture of the audience?”

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