Reading Envy Readers discussion

I will not be giving you an answer but it's interesting to think about.

Is it Russia without the empire it held at one time, or do you throw everything in including the former Soviet states? Is it only literature written originally in Russian, despite the country it is published in or where the author lives?

I was surprised to find some expat authors on lists of the best Russian novels - authors that hadn't lived in Russia as adults but are considered Russian novelists. Now my background as a music major tells me this is not actually that unusual, as we did the same to many Russian composers who fled Russia but were never not Russian.

Do not be surprised if there are some sensitivities over some of these issues. Borders and territory really play a role in this history, and I hope to have more of my head wrapped around it by the end of the year.

So how about you? Have you thought about this and what have you decided?

That’s really hard. For me I guess it would include those countries that were once part of the USSR as well as the Russian Empire in addition to what is considered to be Russia as country. In my mom’s family we considered what is now the Ukraine as a part of Russia (it was once called South Russia).

I wish I hadn't already read Three Apples Fell from the Sky so I could read it anew for this challenge ;) I was wondering if it would even fit, since it takes place in Armenia - but it sounds like it does, having been a former Soviet republic. And it's translated from Russian. I highly recommend as a charming (though not fluffy) choice!

I think, for me, the author's understanding of him or herself as Russian or not Russian would likely be the most important factor in determining what qualifies as Russian literature. I took several Polish history classes in college, and some of what I learned about constructing an identity based on a Polish nation rather than a Polish state (which was sometimes totally erased from the map (and sometimes by Russia!)) is likely influencing my thinking here.

Great question.

Colleen wrote: "I think, for me, the author's understanding of him or herself as Russian or not Russian would likely be the most important factor in determining what qualifies as Russian literature. I took several..."

So great a question, that I am responding to myself 2 hours+ later because I no longer am sure about my initial response. I suppose we do not always know whether an author felt themselves to be Russian or not-Russian. I don't know the answer to the question in this case, and probably would cop out and say that it's not Russian or is Russian-adjacent when it's unclear how the author felt about their national identity, when they are from a former Soviet country or otherwise possibly Russian.

My take on this would be to define it by language rather than geography. Maybe as simple as any literature written in Russian?

For anyone interested there is an Introduction to Russian Literature, part of The Great Classics series available in audio on either Hoopla, or Audible, or also checkout your local public library. Professor Irwin Weil is great fun to listen to. He gets so excited about his material it's infectious

Colleen wrote: "Colleen wrote: "I think, for me, the author's understanding of him or herself as Russian or not Russian would likely be the most important factor in determining what qualifies as Russian literature..."

It's so complicated! A year or two ago I read a book that the publisher described as Moldovan and I had someone in Instagram rip into me, insisting the author was Russian, nobody writing in Russian could be Moldovan, etc etc. I suspected there was a lot of politics behind that that I couldn't be aware of but even the marketing of a book might be misleading, even if in this case the argument would have been for it to be a Russian novel, rather than Moldovan.

Batuman says:

"Some Russian people are skeptical or even offended when foreigners claim an interest in Russian literature."

So if that's true perhaps our very intentions are suspect. ;)

Given that I asked if Bulgakov “counts” as Russian, I am definitely the wrong person to answer this. I’m
Not sure I would consider adults who did not grow up
In Russia/USSR and do not write in Russian to be Russian authors. But that would be for my reading records. I ran into similar questions when I read a Danilo Kis earlier this year (Yugoslavian? Serbian? Hungarian?).

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Colleen wrote: "Colleen wrote: "I think, for me, the author's understanding of him or herself as Russian or not Russian would likely be the most important factor in determining what qualifies as Ru..."

So complicated!

I also thought of Nabokov after posting my first two entries here, who was both Russian and American, and who wrote in both Russian and English. It seems kind of strange to say some of his work is part of Russian literature and some of it is part of American literature. Is it both, neither, or dependent upon which work?

And then, we would never say American literature is English literature because it is often (but probably not always!) written in English. Is language only definitional with respect to certain countries’ literature? Or when a country has a history of Empire, how do you draw lines? I really feel like it blows open a lot of geopolitical questions. Not sure there is a right answer, so I suppose I’ll just pick one and run with it for the challenge.

I read that part of the Babel chapter and thought that was such an interesting, and also very amusing, page or so. What does it mean about a group of people if they really do not want outsiders reading their literature? Is there a subtext to that reaction that is not culturally legible to a non-Russian, like is it humility instead of insularity? I don’t know! :)

I was so comfortably settled on reading Nabokov's Pale Fire and now I'm not so comfortable. On the other hand, the beauty of a reading challenge is that you can stretch your logic to almost the snapping point to make your desired book fit the challenge and nobody will yell at you ;)

Update: I just did my one of my rare checks of my Kindle (I don't like the ebook format) and discovered that I have an early reader copy of Brisbane, the newest book of one of my favorite authors - Eugene Vodolazkin, who is Russian! Duh!! My dilemma - the subject matter sounds more heart wrenching than I can handle right now (death, illness). Very well received on GR - although only one substantive review is written in English (kudos to the writer for putting in the huge effort to write in a second language) and she does ultimately find joy in it. So... fun with Nabokov or painful catharsis with Vodolazkin.

Nadine in California wrote: "I was so comfortably settled on reading Nabokov's Pale Fire and now I'm not so comfortable. On the other hand, the beauty of a reading challenge is that you can stretch your logic to al..."

I have that Brisbane book too, Nadine, and what's driving me crazy is wondering about the title. I've been to Brisbane, Australia, can there be anything else with that name?!