2008 Woodie Awards
Russian Poetry in Mary Low
Ben Herbst
Issue date: 3/16/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
This past Sunday, those who walked by the Mary Low coffee house may have been slightly confused. In front of a sheet where a city scene was sketched, standing before a small group, were students and a few members of the community speaking a foreign language. The language: Russian. The event: the sixth annual Russian Poetry Slam.
Students from all levels of Russian were called upon to recite a poem, though there were a few memorized songs as well as excerpts from The Master and Margarita, a novel the RU428 class is currently reading.
Each student-or group, in the case of the excerpts-explained why they chose that specific piece. Reasons varied from simply liking it because of its briefness to asking a friend from Russia what his favorite poem was; the latter reason ended with a student reading a song from The Musketeers, the friend's favorite movie. Three members from the community recited poems, as well. For example, Carol-Lynn Rossel read a piece by Anna Akmatova called "Pushin" as well as a poem she wrote herself during a trip to Russia.
The students' reasons for selecting their respective pieces were quite interesting. One student selected a four-line poem by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, but explained how it related to current events, such as the role of politics and terrorism in the modern world; although it seemed to be quite simple-the opening is "'All is mine'-said the gold;/'All is mine'-said the sword"-the poem "This is Mine" took on quite a deep meaning. Also, the passages taken from The Master and Margarita were done in such a way that even those with a very basic knowledge of the language understood at least some of what was happening.
After talking with a few students and the professors in the Russian department, it does seem that all too often poetic culture is not celebrated in America. Professor Julie de Sherbinin, originally from Amherst, MA, explains that "[w]hat's a real travesty is that I grew up one block from Emily Dickinson's house-I even babysat there...and we never read Dickenson [there]." In contrast with de Sherbinin's experience with studying poetry, Language Assistant Ksyusha Kobak memorized a lot of poetry in her childhood. "Yeah, I've been several times [to poetry events], actually," she said.
The fact that Russian works are not often read in literature classes was discussed as well. "A friend from China said she had read [Russian writings], and I was so happy," said Kobak. Professor de Sherbinin compared the unpopularity of poets such as Pushkin, who is quite celebrated in Russia, to what would have happened if "Shakespeare had been Chinese". The language barrier, especially
The success of the event-though few students not currently taking Russian showed up-was unquestionable. Kobak was "impressed by your accents and intonations." Professor Shelia McCarthy described her feelings: "It's wonderful for the students to be above their language level-saying things [that] they don't know what they mean. It's great for their ear."
de Sherbinin was similarly happy with the results. "I am absolutely thrilled...I can't even tell you how exciting it is," she said. "A poem becomes a friend you have in your soul always."
Students from all levels of Russian were called upon to recite a poem, though there were a few memorized songs as well as excerpts from The Master and Margarita, a novel the RU428 class is currently reading.
Each student-or group, in the case of the excerpts-explained why they chose that specific piece. Reasons varied from simply liking it because of its briefness to asking a friend from Russia what his favorite poem was; the latter reason ended with a student reading a song from The Musketeers, the friend's favorite movie. Three members from the community recited poems, as well. For example, Carol-Lynn Rossel read a piece by Anna Akmatova called "Pushin" as well as a poem she wrote herself during a trip to Russia.
The students' reasons for selecting their respective pieces were quite interesting. One student selected a four-line poem by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, but explained how it related to current events, such as the role of politics and terrorism in the modern world; although it seemed to be quite simple-the opening is "'All is mine'-said the gold;/'All is mine'-said the sword"-the poem "This is Mine" took on quite a deep meaning. Also, the passages taken from The Master and Margarita were done in such a way that even those with a very basic knowledge of the language understood at least some of what was happening.
After talking with a few students and the professors in the Russian department, it does seem that all too often poetic culture is not celebrated in America. Professor Julie de Sherbinin, originally from Amherst, MA, explains that "[w]hat's a real travesty is that I grew up one block from Emily Dickinson's house-I even babysat there...and we never read Dickenson [there]." In contrast with de Sherbinin's experience with studying poetry, Language Assistant Ksyusha Kobak memorized a lot of poetry in her childhood. "Yeah, I've been several times [to poetry events], actually," she said.
The fact that Russian works are not often read in literature classes was discussed as well. "A friend from China said she had read [Russian writings], and I was so happy," said Kobak. Professor de Sherbinin compared the unpopularity of poets such as Pushkin, who is quite celebrated in Russia, to what would have happened if "Shakespeare had been Chinese". The language barrier, especially
The success of the event-though few students not currently taking Russian showed up-was unquestionable. Kobak was "impressed by your accents and intonations." Professor Shelia McCarthy described her feelings: "It's wonderful for the students to be above their language level-saying things [that] they don't know what they mean. It's great for their ear."
de Sherbinin was similarly happy with the results. "I am absolutely thrilled...I can't even tell you how exciting it is," she said. "A poem becomes a friend you have in your soul always."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
John Brown
posted 2/14/08 @ 4:57 PM EST
Hi - in this article you mention a poem by Pushkin called "This is Mine".
I have looked and looked for the poem and been unable to find it - can you tell me where I might find it?
I remember it from a Russian language textbook in college, unfortunately I don't have the textbook anymore. (Continued…)
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