Reading # 1
Caroline Brooke. City of Writers.
Since early 19th century, literature was something central to Russian culture. This attitude survived the Revolution and continued to flourish through the Soviet times. This situation affected the way writers lived their lives and consciously "built" their own biography as a certain work of art. It also affected the myths that were created by public around writers as special kind of beings.
Can you see general tendencies that unite Russian writers and the way they lived their lives? What kind of attitude did they get on the part of Russian people?
How can you characterize their relationships with authorities and government?
Reading # 2
City of Writers: External Links
Please look at the portraits of these writers and explain in writing what stands out to you when you look at the person presented. Relate the portraits to the class reading.
What can you say about their personalities and the way they are presented in the portraits?
What can you say about these writers’ class belonging?
This is my peer response from reading# 1
Response to "City of Writers"
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The chapter about the “City of Writers” talks about significant writers in Russian history. It also talks about the personalities and personal lives of these writers. These famous writers of Russia include Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, Vladimir Mayakovsky and many others.
One significant aspect about these writers was their role in serving the country of Russia. They were no just writers; most of the writers served the military and took part of the revolution while others used their writings to advocate and give support to a particular aspect of life or politics. For example the writers Lev Tolstoy, Sergei Yesenin and others joined the army of Russian to fight during the Great War. Whiles other writers such as Alexander Blok used his writings to express the concerns he has about the Russia revolution.
As these writers played major roles in shaping the history of Russia with their intelligence and their support for the country the authorities of Russia such as the leaders of the Russian autocracy and the Soviet leaders as well as the people of Russia admired, respect and placed these past writers in their heart. Even though these writers are no more, the city of Moscow still remembers these writers with statues, others with museums and libraries. To illustrate Alexander Pushkin had two statues in Moscow that bear testimony to his name and his reputation as one of the famous writers in Russia.
As seen from the readings, many of the writers had a tragic end. Most of the writers died at very young age as well as others committing suicide because of their unhappy endings. To illustrate Sergei Yesenin, Marina Tsertaeva and some other writers committed suicide. It is very sad to see such important people in society having bad endings. Most of the writers used to write about one another and used their writings to mourn other writers. Example is the speech given by Ivan Turgenev during the unveiling ceremony of the statue of Alexander Pushkin he said “and announce to future generations our right to call ourselves a great nation, because this nation has given birth… to such a man” (114). The quote shows that Russian must be proud of themselves for having Alexander Pushkin.
The leaders of Russia included the tsars and the leaders of the Soviet Union especially Stalin admired some of the writers and their attitude toward their writings. Stalin did admired Boris Pasternak and he even save him from going to prison.
Nicholas I felt that Pushkin is the most intelligent man in Russia while Pushkin feared to meet him he was more than happy to talk to in. And Stalin also proclaim Vladimir Mayakovsky as “a great Soviet poet”(125). The leaders supported these writers accepted their writings.
This is my peer response from reading # 2
Response to "City of Writers" External link
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The portraits about the writers of Russia provide us with how a particular writer looks like. In general, the portraits tell a lot about the writer’s personalities, their beliefs and the class which they belong to. The picture also show that Russian writers were educatedand intelligent overall.
The first three writers in the portrait, which is Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lemontov and Nikolay Golgol are very nice looking young men, as well as classy. By just looking at the portrait, it is obvious that these three men were very intelligent. Even though, Caroline Brooke did not specify what group of class these men belongs to in her writing of the “City of Writers”; however, it is obvious that that these men were wealthy and also classy by just looking at their physical appearance in the portraits especially their outer-wear which in this case is their coat. Mikhail Lemontov outer wear stands out in the portrait because it is easier for one to identify him as a soldier because of the gold insignia he was wearing on his shoulder.
In addition, as soon as one sees the portraits of Fedor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy and Maxim Gorky one can conclude that they were “Old Believers” because of their long beard. As most of the“Old Believers” belongs to the wealthy merchant class these three men does belong to the wealthy merchant class.
The pose of other poet such as, Sergei Esenin, Alexander Blok, Andrey Belyi, Osip Mandelstam, and Marina Tsvetaeva also reveal the humbleness in these poets. These poets show their personalities in different ways, for example Marina Tsevetaeva put her hand on her chain to represent someone who is thinking. This can mean two things, either to show her humbleness and also to show that she is in a process of thinking because as a writer, has to be intelligent and be able to think in order to write. In addition, some of the above mention writers did not wear the kind of outer-wear that Alexander Pushkin and Milkhail Lemontov was wearing; therefore, making some them less reputable compare to the other two.
Boris Pasternak and Mikhail Bulgakov and Maxim Gorky have serious faces in the portrait. They wore tire, and have nice outfit too. The tire they were wearing can represent their educational background. As in real world, most people who are well educated and have blue color jobs often chose to be in suits and wear tires. The portrait of Vladimir Mayakovsky in the graphic also tells a lot about him. As illustrated by Caroline Brooke in her writing of the “City of Writers” Vladimir Mayakovsky was one of the Soviet writers which Stalin admired. The black and red color on the graphical portrait of him can mean the fact that he commits suicide and the red can also mean he was a great Soviet writer.
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