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 Contemporary Russian Poetry, Pt. III

 Author:  Topic:  Posted:
Dec 24, 2001
 Comments:
This time I'm continuing the expose' of Egor Letov's texts. His work can be roughly divided into three periods: the "nihilist" phase, (1984-1990) the "existentialist" phase (1990-1993), and the "communist" phase. (1993-2001)
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This distinction is a fairly arbitrary one, and mostly represents a shift in the poetic stlye of expression more than it signifies any sort of change in ideology. This time, I'm posting a few translations from Letov's "communist" period. Strangely enough, this phase is characterized by a more relaxed, lyrical poetic language, with a very heavy descent into phonetic and rhythmical experimentation. At one point, he got involved in pro-communist / nationalist propaganda, even going so far as to create a "national bolshevism" political party; most of this was done as an elaborate provocation. ("Troll", if you will.) For this reason, his later work is considered "communist", even though the majority of his songs are actually pacifist and/or anti-Soviet.

(Note: Text in square brackets signifies a more phonetic translation, though not necessarily a more correct one from a semantic point of view.)

New Dawn

Mischievous sparks sunk into cinders,
The air of my land smells of bitterness.
  There will be a dawn.
  Clear-eyed morning dawn.

Fires and stars burned to the ground,
By the nighttime dew, in the rawness of wind.
  There will be a dawn.
  Clear-eyed morning dawn.

Sweet revenge, [Dangerous zone]
Tossed bone,
Stolen rule, [Weight of stone]
Scarlet brooks,
Fallen rooks,
Mud worn to the heel.
Forbidden truth, [Misplaced trust]
Concrete dust,
Settlements for sale. [Oversold over distance]

  Everything's fine, except it's all to fucking lousy...
  Stuffy in heaven.

Roads and pathways worn out in the dusk,
Shadow rules over the breadth of my land.
  There will be a dawn.
  Clear-eyed morning dawn.

Sweet revenge, [Dangerous zone]
Tossed-out bone,
Stolen rule, [Weight of stone]
Scarlet brooks,
Fallen rooks,
Mud worn to the heel.
Forbidden truth, [Misplaced trust]
Concrete dust,
Settlements for sale. [Oversold over distance]

  Everything's fine, except it's all to fucking lousy...
  Stuffy in heaven.
  Dirty in heaven.
  Nauseous in heaven.
  Smelly in heaven.

The denser the twilight, the brighter the battle.
The darker the nightfall, the clearer the day.
  There will be a dawn.
  Clear-eyed morning dawn.

(c. 1995, Listen to the original. [MP3])

------------

How To Live

How easy is hunger when starving?
How easy is silence when mute?
How easy is hiding for corpses?
How easy to search while alive?

  Waiting for an answer:
  Who in this world lives well?
  Who in this world lives well?
  Who in this world lives well?
  Who in this world lives?

How easy to burn up in the dawn?
How easy to glow by the window?
How easy to sparkle with snot?
How easy to stink of shit?

  Waiting for an answer:
  Who in this world lives well?
  Who in this world lives well?
  Who in this world lives well?
  Who in this world lives?

How easy to stuff on turkey?
How easy to swallow the bite?
How easy to battle with zits?
How easy to trample on sand?

  Waiting for an answer:
  Who in this world lives well?
  Who in this world lives well?
  Who in this world lives well?
  Who in this world lives?

(c. 1995, Listen to the original. [MP3])

Important note: The classical Russian poet Nekrasov wrote a famous poem in the 1870's titled "Who in Russia Lives Well". It was a sharply political piece, critical of the state of Russian government and society at the time; here, Letov twists the famous quote around to communicate a much deeper and universal message, a sort of existentialist extension of the ideas of the nineteenth century. This can be considered a sort of illustration of the evolution of political thought through the last century -- something like "monarchism -> dissent -> utopianism -> totalitarianism -> chaos -> existentialist dread".

       
Tweet

pretty good (none / 0) (#1)
by philipm on Tue Dec 25th, 2001 at 09:37:45 AM PST
Stop abusing the english language - here this is called rock music. Its pretty good though.

Can you discuss Vystosky?


--philipm

 
oh and i forgot (none / 0) (#2)
by philipm on Tue Dec 25th, 2001 at 09:50:17 AM PST
why does it say "steal" on the page in the bottom to download the file? Or is the Russian word for download - steal?
Maybe because Americans invented computers, Russians decided that anything to do with computers was free. That would explain a lot actually.


--philipm

 
Question (none / 0) (#3)
by hauntedattics on Thu Dec 27th, 2001 at 03:28:02 PM PST
Is there a site where I can see the text in the original Cyrillic? It may take me some time to read, since my Russian is so rusty, but it would be cool.

Thanks for posting the poetry.



 

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