PUSHKIN. 9

PUSHKIN #9. SUMMARY

In his opening material Valery Hiltunen presents two children's texts devoted to Pushkin. He aims at showing how infantile consciousness avoids stereotypes, providing examples of true creativity. The following two articles concentrate on the spirit and ideology of 1968. Mark Pechersky assesses the American experience as a true revolution and not a revolt, describing the situation in San Francisco from the "mundane" perspective of everyday life. Arkadii Dragomoshenko, reconstituting the students' uprising in France, suggests that the May Revolution was based upon the transformation of the notion and function of literature: it is the theoretical assumption of the liberation of language that lies at the core of projects of social change at the time.

Reviewing Merab Mamardashvili's "Kantian Variations", Nely Motroshilova, remaining faithful to the philosopher's musical metaphor, singles out two basic themes in the book: Kant as person and the theme of form. For Mamardashvili Kant becomes a symbol of civilized, i.e. cosmopolitan, conduct and thinking, whereas form, necessarily being a given, nevertheless each time requires independent (moral) action on the part of man.

Analyzing Joseph Goebbels' recently published diaries, Iring Fetscher arrives at the conclusion that despite considerable differences separating national socialism and Marxism-Leninism, in war-time their similarities came to the fore - a fact subconsciously admitted by Hitler and Goebbels themselves. Oleg Khlevnyuk reviews R.W.Davies' new book "Crisis and Progress in the Soviet Economy. 1931-1933". Davies' method of reconstructing historical events on the basis of as many sources as possible allows him to draw a more precise picture of the actual economic situation in Russia at the time, establishing new links and continuities. Vyacheslav Glazychev reviews "The Icon Critical Dictionary of Postmodern Thought" finding it in itself "postmodern" and concluding that if a certain phenomenon is reflected in a separate edition it has indeed become a fact of culture.

Semyon Ulyanov critically reviews Victor Pelevin's prose, giving numerous examples of aesthetically imperfect writing. Igor Pilshikov elegantly delves into the funny, although inadmissible, mistakes of a dictionary of rare words in 19th century poetry and prose. He convincingly shows that R.P.Rogozhnikova's edition appears useless for both professionals and laymen.

In his revealing essay "1987-1997: per aspera in anum" Simon Kordonsky gives a detailed analysis of the current economic and political situation in Russia. According to the author, what we witness at present is the existence of a specific administrative market marked first of all by debts and poverty as a commodity. Financial stabilization has resulted in the appearance of forms engendering socialism such as new branches of economy and regions. This new socialism, however, is characterized by the lack of an aggressive official idea as well as by privatized institutions of state control. Taking into account the hazards of transition, the prospects for the future appear to be rather dim.

"Pushkin" editor-in-chief Gleb Pavlovsky reviews P.Champagne's recently translated book devoted to public opinion and its dependence on the autonomously functioning mass media. Pavlovsky shows that the system of opinion making in its relation to the mass media in this country is no less totalitarian than Soviet power itself.

Irina Medvedeva and Tatiana Shishova treat the problem of new Russian textbooks by giving a careful reading of Ye.N.Basovskaya's history of Russian literature for schools. Considering Revolution as Evil, the author violently reinterprets the whole of Russian literature assuming a biased and narrow stance.

In the section "Not Far From Moscow" Sergei Dmitrenko recollects his experience as participant of an Ivanovo conference on the Russian "concealed literature" of the 20th century.

Oleg Dark gives his version of Alexander Nevzorov's movie devoted to the Chechen war. "Purgatory" chooses the style of a documentary - hence a bad film provides an example of a good aesthetics. Denis Dragunsky expresses his doubts about the middle class in Russia: both the inertia of the Soviet way of life and the new technological revolution hamper its emergence.

"Le Monde diplomatique" (reviewed by Yelena Galtsova) is presented by an essay of Commander Marcos written when his army, after the unsuccessful elections in Mexico, had retreated to the woods. According to Marcos, neoliberalism as a global system is the Fourth World War raging at present. The situation is characterized by seven basic features, or "fragments": concentration of wealth and distribution of poverty; globalization of exploitation; migration; financial and criminal globalization; legal violence of illegal power; megapolitics and dwarfs; centers of resistance. These fragments do not fit into a whole. Hence, concludes Marcos, a new world is required. The essay is accompanied with Ignacio Ramonet's portraits of Marcos and Che Guevara. Dmitrii Petrov in his turn sketches the mythological permutations of Che Guevara's image both in a series of biographies and in the understanding of various Russian leftist political forces trying to reappropriate the legendary hero.

Opening the Millennium section, Eduard Batalov proposes his version of the "fin de siecle" problematic. He speaks of the 20th century as left. The end of the "left century" is a sign of global transition: it is not only the collapse of leftist structures and ideas, but of the entire social and political system. Reviewing Manuel Castells' "The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture", Ivan Zasursky traces the basic features of the new age as formulated by the author (the global power of electronic impulses; a new structure of economy challenging the national state; an international net elite; changing family and identity patterns, etc.). Zasursky regards the book as stimulating for Russian intellectuals. Zinovii Zinik interviews the famous British writer James G.Ballard who vividly voices his opinion on such matters as the downfall of communism; the genre of anti-utopia as it is linked to (future) reality; the socialist experience in Russia.

The closing journal section comprises Mikhail Ryklin's polemical response to Sergei Zenkin. While discarding many of his accusations concerning the translation of R.Barthes' "Camera Lucida" as set forth in Zenkin's review ("Pushkin", # 3), Ryklin reveals the hidden position of his opponent: a longing for Authority and ecstatic mysticism that take the place of a proclaimed "objectivity".

The "Net-Culture" section is presented by the following texts. Anton Nosik describes the Virtual Mausoleum created in the Internet, commemorating Lenin's anniversary. He also mentions Boris Yeltsyn's first computer interview. Vadim Gushin, co-author of the Virtual Mausoleum project, speaks of the tenacity of Lenin's myth. In his satire approaching the grotesque Igor Yarkevich opposes Tsar Nicholas II to the Unknown Soldier. Thus, Nicholas turns into the Known Soldier who, unlike the Unknown, is considered responsible for all the big and small troubles. Andrei Lyovkin focuses on special Internet sites devoted to the complex phenomenon of the 60s. Anton Nosik expands on the recently adopted "flexible" laws regulating copyright matters and drugs. Their "flexibility" turns out to be a synonym of loosely motivated persecution. In Yevgenii Gornyi's interview with the notorious computer novelist Bayan Shiryanov many details concerning his creative work and its reception are brought to light. One of the central issues of the conversation is that of drugs. Irina Durova tells her story of a curious encounter with the "real" author of Pushkin's "Secret Notes" attributed to the Internet celebrity M.Armalinsky.