In the Details-My Photography of Russia

My favorite book when I was young was called, The Fool of the World and The Flying Ship, it was a gift from my grandmother. I just found it for the first time a little while ago. Having read fairy tales in my adult studies of Russian, I realized that this was an English translation of a famous Russian fairy tale. I went back through and flipped through the pages, and I remembered the magical enchanment that I felt as a child reading this book, looking at the details of the onion domed churches and bright colors and intricate embroidery on the characters’ costumes. Every thing seemed so rich and so completely different than what I could even imagine.

This was my favorite book long before I had ever been to Russia. But as I made my way, traveling through Russia as an adult, I felt that same magical enchantment. These are my photos of some of the charming little details that I found in cemetaries, on old gravestones, or on little ornamental details–all of it so rich and so foreign.

One of my favorite things to do while I was studying in Moscow was taking my little Nikkomat(it was my grandpa’s SLR from the 50’s) out and about on photo excursions. I was completely charmed by Russia by the beauty of Russia before I had even set foot on Russian soil. I remember looking out the window of our airplane as we flew in to Moscow, and I could feel this kind of aching pit in my heart. As I look at the little red roofed dachas, black soil and deep green patches of forrest, I thought, “Uh-oh, I’m not going to be able to let go of this place.” And that deep, aching adoration for the place has only intensified.

So here are a few of the scapes that I found so charming. Maybe it takes a fellow russophile to think so.

This picture doesn’t really do it justice, but all of the old headstones are covered in a beautiful green moss. I come from a desert so moss is a strange and beautiful thing for me. The inscription on this headstone is in old Russian(before the alphabet reform in 1919).

Novodevichy Cemetery was my favorite place in Moscow. Maybe I’m morbid for think that cemeteries are one of the most beautiful and interesting places in any city, but this one is so beautiful. You learn a lot about a society from their ccemeteries. I went to Russia the first time not even knowing the alphabet, so just to see the letters engraved on headstones was rich and foreign for me.

Autumn is my favorite season. I remember the first time I heard Pushkin’s name was when I was going for a walk with a Russian friend(within a month of my arrival) and I sighed and said how much I loved the fall. And Sergey replied, “Yes, Pushkin loved the fall as well, he wrote many poems about it."

One of my other favorite places in Moscow is ВДНХ, Выставка достижений народного хозяйства, or a rough translation: Exhibition of the Peoples Agricultural Achievments It was a place where people from the 15 different republics could come to show off their agricultural achievements. Every republic had its’ own building and they were built and adorned with ornament native to that republic. I think I’ll do an entire blog on this place sometime because it is really incredible.

This is the entrance to the center. True Russian architecture is so unique and intricate. But don’t get me wrong, I am just a fascinated and impressed by that good old fashion Soviet Empire style. I love the drab colors and the stark grandeur of the soviet era.

The ornamentation here is not frivolous, it is a celebration of socialist labor. This was where the people could come to celebrate the contributions to the mighty soviet empire.

One of the most ornately designed and decorated buildings is the Ukraine building. You can by the metro station dedicated to Kiev and by this building that the Russians felt that Ukraine represented every thing that was rich in detail and culture.

This is just a strip of mosaic that runs along the outside of the Ukraine building. The whole building is decorated with traditional ornament and folk designs of the country.

The park is huge and just when you think that you have wandered out of the park and into some far away forest, you will stumble upon yet another building with a sign that says something like “House of Honey Cultivation” or some other random aspect of agriculture you didn’t even know existed. It is kind of like a ghost town, a representation of what the country was left with after Communism.

This is the side wall of a building we found way back in the forest. The building was closed up and had been vandalized. I love the colors and style. It’s so soviet and I can imagine that it must have been a very hip and exciting design, but now practically no one sees it, which is said considering that the words say ”Выставочный Центр”, or ”Display Center”.

It is eerie to picture our bustling centers of capitalism, our triumphant symbols of all our hard work, like this…empty, useless, except to remind us that all great empires must come to an end. I just pity that the Soviets had to see it come, shine and fizzle all on their lifetime. It’s no wonder older Russians get depressed when they come to this park.

So maybe in the end the cemetery was not that different from the park. Whether it’s once inhabited bodies or buildings, I’ve always been fascinated by abandoned things and the stories they enclose. I love eerie unresolved plots and histories, and perhaps that is why I am so drawn in by Russia.

Etymology and Slavic Mythology

Slavic Mythology-Every Word Tells a Tale It’s easy to look at a language and never see the marks of ancient beliefs and systems. In English we have several words that are derived from ancient pagan beliefs, I’ve listed a few to get those wheels in your head turning:

Aphrodisiac: Something that makes one want some lovin’ appropriately comes from the name of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty.

Venereal(disease): Describing anything that comes from sexual indulgence comes from VENUS, the Roman equivalent of Aphrodite.

Museum- A places of learning, comes from the Muses, the sister goddesses who represented all that is culturally elevated.

Saturday- Named after the Roman god, Saturn, the supreme god.

So today I’m going to this fun little breakdown and analysis of the mark that Slavic Mythology has left on the Russian language. Just like in English, pagan beliefs influenced and even created the entire Slavic lexicon, preserving the religion in the modern day language.

Slavic mythologic-etymological roots differ from the Greek and Roman ones, in that many words in the Slavic vocabulary contain the names of Gods. Because both the language and the mythology were born and living long before a written language was, it’s had to know which came first, the myth or the word. You could argue both ways. Unlike the Greeks, the Slavs lacked a written language in which to write epic tales of their pantheon. So the traditions and tales have been passed orally, and can be hard to source.

As a linguist I love knowing why we say what we do and the connections between the culture and the language we use to describe it. These are some of the fun little lingua-cultural ties that I have been studying:

In the beginning…

1. РОД, ROD-There was the son of the highest god, РОД, Rod, who was appointed to create the visible world, it would be of him, that all other gods would be born. Everything that has to do with birth and life and family carries his name:

Родить- Give birth to Родители-Parents Родственники-Relatives Родина- Native land Природа- Nature

Rod separates his creation into three departments: The Heavens, The Earth, The Underworld(or the world of the past).

Правь- The heavens, inhabited by gods who behave themselves, who govern and enforce justice. There are a plethora of words connected to this heavenly place, all having to do with rightness, justice, truth, guidance and all other good things that a higher power ordains to be good:

Правда- Truth Право- Right (hand) Правительсто-governing body Правильно- Correct Справедливость-Justice

Явь- The second kingdom was the kingdom of Явь, or the visible world, or earth. This is the root in words which have to do with visibility, becoming, or appearing, or concretely existing.

Явь-Reality Явный- Evident Являться-to exist as/to be Появиться-to appear Заявление-declaration

Навь-The underworld, whose offspring vocabulary are no longer in use in everyday Russian. But according to the great lexicographer, Dal’s dictionary, it appeared in many dialects as a euphemism for death and hell.

The grandson of the god, Rod, is one whose name turns up often in the lexicon. Ярило, оr Yarilo, is one of the god of the springtime sun, the harvest, as well as war. The words connected with him tend to take three categories:

Light and warmth of the spring: Яркий-Bright Яр-Heat Vegetation and harvest: Ярица- Wheat field Яровое-Seeds that are sown in the spring Passion, youth and unrestrained strength Разъяриться-to fly into a rage Яроводье-Nasty flood that wipes everything out.

Велес/Волос/ or Veles, is known by slightly different variants of this name in Slavic languages. He is the god of livestock and wealth. He is often portrayed as a bear. Bears are hairy and maybe that’s why he got the name(which means hair in Russian) Strangely enough the words connected with him have to do not only with “hair” but “power” as well. The connection between hairiness and power makes the tale of Sampson make more sense.

Волхв-Magician/soothsayer Власть-power Великий-mighty/powerful

Slavic mythology is closely tied with the Proto-Indo-European pantheon, so you could probably find similar ties in the Russian names to the originals. I didn’t have time to investigate that. It always fills me with glee to find connections and origins of words. It’s hard, of course, to know which came first the god, or the words to describe them. It’s like the chicken and the egg, which is literally the beginning of the mythology. The creation story in Slavic mythology begins with a chicken, Ряба, laying a golden egg which would become the earth. If you’re interested in more mythology, here are a couple of links: http://www.duhra.ru/article/duhra/ (in Russian) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavic_mythology

What has the October Revolution done for you lately?

On the 7th of November Russia recognized(I don’t say celebrate because I don’t know that people were, in fact) the 90th Anniversary of the Mighty October Revolution(which would be considered the Mighty November Revolution according to our calendars). With all of the changes that are taking place in Russia today, and the threat of more political instability on the horizon, many Russians spent the day contemplating their “mighty” history. Lenin’s plans were mighty, but the system was not. Ask any aged Russian on the street Moscow about whether they prefer communist life or “democratic” life, and they will most likely shake their head in disgust and refer to the good ole days nostalgically. The west, at any given moment, has a plethora of bones to pick with communism, but do we give it enough credit for the good that it did do. The old people on the street seem to think that communist living was much better, they didn’t have to worry about tomorrow. And now, even though the 7th of November is supposed to be a day of celebration, many of these pensioners consider it a day of mourning for the promises of security that were never realized, a day when they question all that they knew to be mighty and sure. So I choose to humor these nostalgic communists on their holiday. Today we will try and think not of 90 years of oppression and corruption, but of development, work, and purpose.

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of good things that communism did for the country is the educational system. I studied in Moscow for a year under teachers who were educated in pedagogy in the Brezhnev era. They took such pride in their work, they cared for their students, they spent extra time to make sure that the students were reaching their full potential. Students are celebrated and take their work very seriously. I can only imagine how much more invigorated with zeal and excitement students(pioneers, as they are called in Soviet times) must have been when they felt like their education was a mighty contribution to the mightiest of institutions, that they, themselves, could make old Uncle Lenin proud.

Учиться, учиться, а еще раз…учиться! –Ленин (русскому языку, чтобы это понять)

Lenin had hoped that communism would go on for much longer than just 90 years. In this declaration Lenin introduces the NEP, New Economic Policy, НЭП, Новый Экономический План, in it he identifies the three enemies of Communism, one of which, the new Communist educational system did a great job at eliminating: "The Three Chief Enemies In my opinion, three chief enemies now confront one, irrespective of one’s departmental functions; these tasks confront the political educationalist, if he is a Communist—and most of the political educationalists are. The three chief enemies that confront him are the following: the first is communist conceit; the second—illiteracy, and the third—bribery.

-The First Enemy—Communist Conceit A member of the Communist Party, who has not yet been combed out, and who imagines he can solve all his problems by issuing communist decrees, is guilty of communist conceit. That is only communist conceit. The point is to learn to impart political knowledge; but that we have not yet learnt; we have not yet learnt how to approach the subject properly.

-The Second Enemy—Illiteracy As regards the second enemy, illiteracy, I can say that so long as there is such a thing as illiteracy in our country it is too much to talk about political education. This is not a political problem; it is a condition without which it is useless talking about politics. An illiterate person stands outside politics, he must first learn his ABC. Without that there can be no politics; without that there are rumours, gossip, fairy-tales and prejudices, but not politics.

-The Third Enemy—Bribery Lastly, if such a thing as bribery is possible it is no use talking about politics. Here we have not even an approach to politics; here it is impossible to pursue politics, because all measures are left hanging in the air and produce absolutely no results. A law applied in conditions which permit of widespread bribery can only make things worse. "

Delivered: 17 October, 1921; First Published: Published in the Vtoroi Vserossiishy syezd politprosvetov. Bulleten syezda (Bulletin of the Second All-Russia Congress of Political Education Departments) No. 2, October 19, 1921; Published according to the Bulletin proofs corrected by Lenin

Before the revolution approximately 25% of the population was illiterate. Lenin, being the son of a school inspector was particularly aware of this enemy in Russian society. He made it among his top priorities to educate the people. Communist doctrine and propaganda is useless to the people whose minds have not been elevated above an animal-like existence. In 1919 the Narkompros, issued a decree that all citizens between the ages of 7 and 50 were required to go to school, if they had not yet done so. So babushka and grandson would sit together in school learning to read. In addition, systems were set up so that factory workers (usually the most uneducated) could be good communist workers and still have time to get an education in a particular vocation(typically industrial and agricultural vocations).

By 1939, according to the population census, the literacy rate had risen to 87.4%, and today even after the fall of communism, Russia’s literacy rate is near perfect at 99% and 40% of adults have finished higher education. (Unfortunately this number is decreasing because of the rising cost of education) * http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/russia_statistics.html

Today, you could stop any average person on the street, young or old, and all of them could recite a few lines of Pushkin's poetry, or rattle off a line of square root numbers(I was going to give an example of what I mean, but I don't really know how to do that part of math). Many of my Russian friends laughed to see the math that we do here on a university level, "Oh, we did this in 5th grade."

See, the revolution was not in vain. And though many of its systems are now collapsing under the winds of change, the legacy of Lenin can live in on in our hearts. So in the days after a mighty revolution's anniversary, if you find your self trying to make sense of all that came to be, rather than feeling despair at the course the mighty plan took, put your hand over your heart and sing a song from your days as a Komsomol:

Вместе с Комсомолом навсегда!

Музыка: Ю.Чичков Слова: М.Пляцковский

Мы глядим в грядущее уверенно,

В жизни цель - прекрасна и светла.

И недаром Родина доверила

Нам, ребята, важные дела.

И недаром Родина доверила-

Нам, ребята, важные дела.

We look to the future, certain,

Our goal in life is bright and beautiful.

Our motherland has not trustued us in vain

We've got important work to do, guys.

Chorus:

Галстук пионерский на груди,

Новые дороги впереди.

Для победы, счастья и труда,

Вместе с комсомолом - навсегда!

With our pioneer tie on our chest,

There are new roads ahead.

For vicory, happiness and work,

Pioneers and Komsomols FOREVER!

Ah, Lenin would be so proud.

Запас Слов Communism brought with it an abundance of these abbreviated and compounded words, they can somethimes be hard to find in a dictionary, but they're kind of fun to know. -Ликбез-ликвидация безграммотности, the campaign launched in 1920 to eliminate illiteracy. -Наркомпрос-Народный комиссариат просвещения, People's Commissarat for Enlightening or The branch of government in charge of Ликбез

-Комсомол-Коммунистический союз Молодежи, Communist Youth Group,kind of like scouts but more intense. Колхоз-Коллективное хозяйство, communal farms

Outrageous, Harsh and, well, kind of Funny: Pravda.ru: “Condoleezza Rice’s anti-Russian stance based on sexual problems”

Сказать как есть: Say it like it is.

This is something that the Russians can be counted on to do. Many foreigners are shocked by the harsh remarks made by Russians. My teachers in school say things like, ”You look horrible today.” And my favorite of all incidents was when I was shopping for a sweater, and I pointed to the one I wanted to try on, and the shop attendant said, “No, you’re too fat for that.” That’s the Russian version of customer service–no beating around the bush. I took no offense and even had a good laugh, and thanked her for not wasting my time.

I learned to kind of love that harsh manner of talking and expressing(more often imposing) ones ideas. The great thing about Russians is that they don’t talk harshly about one another behind each other’s backs. They have some interesting beliefs and they feel it is their responsibility to bring you into the light. Russians are shy to “trash talk” but every once in a while you find an article like this one from Pravda.

I get such a huge kick out of reading from the newspaper Pravda. It was once the official propogator of Soviet Communism but since Yeltsin it has been reincarnated into a tabloid paper. They have select articles in English, and these are especially hilarious. I got a kick out of this one in particular. It is from the January 11, 2006 issue of english.pravda.ru. Here’s the link if you’d like to read the entire rant:

http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/88/354/16724_Condoleezza.html

otherwise I’ll just give you the highlights:

“Condoleezza Rice’s anti-Russian stance based on sexual problems”

By: Ярослава Крестовская

Ms. Rice’s criticism can be explained with the politician’s personal peculiarities. Why is Condoleezza Rice so fond of her “strict teacher” role? Is it her technique that she follows to stay in the center of political attention? The leader of the Liberal and Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), Vladimir Zhirinovsky, expressed his opinion on the matter in an exclusive interview with Pravda.Ru.

”Condoleezza Rice released a coarse anti-Russian statement. This is because she is a single woman who has no children. She loses her reason because of her late single status. Nature takes it all.

”The civilized world needs to think about a decision when single politicians are not allowed to stay in power. This was a common practice in the Soviet political system. The matter of international relations is very subtle and exquisite. One single word or phrase may play an extremely important role in politics. This is not the place, where one can sublimate their personal sexual problems.

We are all seeing Condee in a new light. This guy is kind of outrageous but kind of tapping into some of the views we have, but are too PC to ever say out loud. That’s where a Russian bigot comes in handy. He can say frankly all the things that we were ashamed for thinking…

"Complex-prone women are especially dangerous. They are like malicious mothers-in-law, women that evoke hatred and irritation with everyone. Everybody tries to part with such women as soon as possible. A mother-in-law is better than a single and childless political persona, though.

This was left out of the English Translation:

Ведь она, как минимум, дочь родила, выполнив свою природную задачу. А незамужняя и бездетная, да еще в возрасте – это точно Баба Яга.

Afterall, a mother in law, at least bore a child(a daughter), thus fulfilling her purpose as a woman. But an unmarried, childless, middle-aged woman is a true Baba Yaga

Baba Yaga, the famous witch from Russian fairy tales. The author compares Rice to Baba Yaga in the Russian part above. Both single and childless women who are hungry for power, one who satisfies that need by tyrannizing politics the other eats small children. Which witch does which?

"Condoleezza Rice needs a company of soldiers. She needs to be taken to barracks where she would be satisfied. On the other hand, she can hardly be satisfied because of her age. This is a complex. She needs to return to her university and teach students there. She could also deal with psychological analysis.

”The true reason of Ms. Rice’s attack against Russia is very simple. Condoleezza Rice is a very cruel, offended woman who lacks men’s attention. Releasing such stupid remarks gives her the feeling of being fulfilled. This is the only way for her to attract men’s attention,” Vladimir Zhirinovsky said. "

The funniest part of this is not so much the article, but moreso the familiarity of it all. I heard such harsh oppinions expressed on many occasions sometimes about me(Katya: Janeychka! You must paint your fingernails! No man will ever want to marry you if you don’t!), about stay at home mothers(Many Russians: If a woman stays at home and doesn’t work, she is useless, and her husband will think she is boring and cheat on her) about divorced women (Nina: My father left us, but I can’t blame him, afterall, my mother got fat.) about my 24 year-old, single roommate (old man on the bus: You’re 24? Well, you’re still kind of pretty, you need to hurry and have a baby. You won’t be able to have a baby if you wait much longer. The bitterness of being single will eat your ovaries up). None of these notions can be scientifically proven, but it does make you wonder.