Staff Articles

RPSS Reflections

Fallon O'Malley

Studying Russian at William & Mary was one of the most enriching parts of my college experience. I began taking RPSS classes my freshman year and quickly realized that I wanted to begin language courses in order to understand more deeply what I was learning. I will say, there is something to be said about attempting to communicate in a foreign language after just learning its alphabet. I remember one experience vividly, when I mixed up the word "son" (сын) with the word "cheese" (сыр) during an elementary Russian speaking assessment, and not being able to recover for weeks. It seems ridiculous but I think this shows how we all wanted to improve and engage thoughtfully with the material. This included all the frustrations with learning. However, as I look back on the beginning of my journey with Russian, these moments ended up being more special than embarrassing. I was able to study with the same group of students for three years straight and it's something that I often take for granted. I've built relationships with this department and my peers that I will carry with me moving into the next chapter of my life, which I'm very grateful for. My classmates and I have even been able to keep our Russian group chat alive three years later, which is a feat in and of itself. Not only have my Russian skills improved immensely while learning about the Russian culture and literature but I have also been challenged to think more critically and communicate in ways that I never had before. Our professors had a large impact on this positive experience and have continued to provide an inclusive space for learning, an enthusiasm for the material, and overall inspiration to never give up.

The program has changed significantly with the arrival of the pandemic in 2020 and beyond. We saw the loss of our beloved professor and international fellow, the movement of the Russian House to Hardy Hall, watched study abroad programs come to a halt, and had to adapt to online classes for a time being. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that saying goodbye is one of the hardest things to do and the sense of loss felt for the people who made my experience special early on was immense. Through all of this, it did exemplify how necessary the program was and is for me. I relied on the Russian program so much throughout my college experience and my fondest memories are with these people— everyone who made William & Mary feel like home.

As Head Editor of Gazeta, I was able to blend my love for all things Russian with my love for writing. I was so glad that there was such an outlet on campus, with such a long history of student writers within the program. I'm excited to see the newspaper evolve and grow with every new class and dedicated team member. I know the periodical will be in good hands under our new Head Editor, Yasha Barth, for the 2022-23 editions! It's been a pleasure reading your contributions and an honor to be a small part of your journey here at the College. Большое спасибо!

Мелодии Миры №8: Сегодняночью

Mira Wroblewski

Альбом: Кофе и сигареты

Группа: Сегодняночью

Избранная песня: Сигареты и кофе

What’s more mysterious and romantic than the nighttime? In both name and theme, Сегодняночью captures hopeless romanticism in their music. Their 2002 debut album, Кофе и Сигареты, compares strangers to lovers and examines the differences between life in the spotlight and real life. Soviet band Mummiy Troll’s Ilya Lagutenko produced the album and played an integral role in the band’s success, with some of their debut songs becoming radio hits. Interestingly, before the album was even released, the band wrote the song Gerda, Ikai for the soundtrack of iconic movie Брат 2, but the song was not included in the final cut of the film.

Сегодняночью began as a trio consisting of songwriter Nikolai Eliseev (NiKel), instrumentalist Oleg Baranov, and vocalist Nikita Kozlov. Unfortunately, internal disagreements amongst the band members led to their breakup. Kozlov decided to continue the project on his own, renaming the band from Сегодня ночью to Сегодняночью to avoid complaints from his former band members and record label. Since then, Kozlov has released six more albums, none of which reached the same popularity as the first.

Избранный текст песни Сигареты и кофе:

Я был замечен в ожидании чуда

Я плохо спал, когда ты била посуду

Затем ушла навсегда, чтобы вернуться сюда

Ниоткуда

И не ищи, не преследуй повсюду

Я не хочу, а это значит - не буду

А кто остался с тобой - он совсем никакой

И зануда

И день за днем сигареты и кофе

Мы не умрем никогда,

Обещания - мой профиль.

Я устал, открывая чужие конверты

Сигареты и кофе, кофе и сигареты

Ты исчезала в коридоре ОВИРа

Я настигал тебя в районе вокзала

И мы ложились спать, чтобы наутро начать

Всё сначала

I was noticed while waiting for a miracle

I didn’t sleep well when you broke the dishes

Then you left forever, just to come back here

From nowhere

And don’t search, don’t chase around everywhere

I don’t want to, which means I won’t

And the one who stayed with you – he’s nothing at all

And a bore

And day after day cigarettes and coffee

We’ll never die

Promises are my profile

I’m tired of opening others’ envelopes

Cigarettes and coffee, coffee and cigarettes

You disappeared in the hall of the OVIR (Отдел виз и регистрации/Office of Visas and Registration)

I caught up with you by the train station

And we went to bed to start everything over again in the morning

Цитаты:

Tonight - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

СЕГОДНЯНОЧЬЮ - Официальный сайт (segodnyanochyu.ru)

Сегодня Ночью - биография и семья (facecollection.ru)

Ссылка на песню: Сигареты и кофе - YouTube

Putin and Karjakin meeting in 2017

“Game of Kings”: Top Russian Chessmaster Struck with Unprecedented Sanctions

Ryan Klopp

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 provoked a historic response from the Western world, with Western countries and Western-dominated international organizations joining together to levy extraordinary sanctions against the Russian economy in a bid to force the withdrawal of Russian troops. This struggle currently casts its shadow on virtually all aspects of international affairs, including international chess competitions. Ukraine and Russia are both renowned for producing elite grandmasters, but one in particular has courted particular controversy during the current crisis. Sergei Karjakin is by any measure among the world’s strongest chessmasters, finishing as the runner-up in the 2016 World Championship. An ethnic Russian born in Crimea, he has provoked both praise and criticism for his outspoken pro-Russian sentiments as the relationship between the two countries deteriorated; after beginning his career representing Ukraine, he received Russian citizenship in 2009 and subsequently moved to Moscow.

Since the Crimean crisis in 2014, he has been among the most ardent supporters of Vladimir Putin in the world of sport, earning the joking nickname “Minister of Defense” both for his strong defensive skills on the chessboard and his Russian-nationalist sentiments in politics. These opinions led to his current conflict with FIDE, the world chess governing body. On the 21st of March, FIDE banned him from all sanctioned competitions for at least six months, arguing that his pro-war comments “cast international chess into disrepute.” Such a lengthy suspension against a world-class player is unparalleled in modern chess history, and its consequences are already being felt; Karjakin was very likely to qualify for the 2022 World Championship Candidates Tournament before his ban in addition to being expelled from the Grand Chess Tour, the world’s most prestigious tournament cycle.

Karjakin responded by criticizing the FIDE Ethics Commission for “mixing sport with politics” and cited the example of the wave of suspensions against Russian Olympians as proof that international sport organizations discriminate against Russian sportsmen. He also stated that “First of all, I am a patriot of my country, and only secondly - an athlete.” As international backlash and domestic authoritarianism in Russia grow in unison, more and more Russian athletes and cultural figures will likely be forced to make this choice as they too are reduced to pawns in a much larger game.

Sources:

https://www.chess.com/news/view/sergey-karjakin-banned-for-6-months

https://t.me/s/karjakinchess

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/fide-bans-russia-from-holding-chess-events

Autumn Marathon Film Poster, 1979 (IMDb)

Film Review: Autumn Marathon [Осенний Марафон] (1979)

Yasha Barth

1. Introduction

Over spring break, I had the pleasure of sitting down with my parents and watching several films, one of which was Autumn Marathon. Infamous comedic director Georgiy Daneliya transports viewers into the troubled and busy life of Professor Buzykin [Oleg Basilashvili], who is experiencing his mid-life crisis, has fallen in love with a typist, and hides his cheating from his wife. At the same time as he cheats and attempts to translate his own works, he finds himself helping his friend Bill Hansen [Norbert Kuchinke] to translate Dostoevsky, as well as completing translations for a troubled and lazy colleague while somehow also fitting in his own exercise with Bill and drinking traditions with his neighbor Vasiliy Kharitonov [Yevgeny Leonov].

You can watch the film for free on YouTube with subtitles using the following link:

https://youtu.be/X4e4-tYlHwo

2. Fun Facts

• Director Georgiy Daneliya loves to take a minor role in his films - see if you can spot his cameo in this one! (Hint: he is on a screen within a screen)

• Daneliya became so convinced that Norbert Kuchinke was the ideal actor for Bill Hansen that he persuaded Kuchinke to partake in the film despite not receiving any approval from the Soviet government (including the KGB) to allow a person from a Western country to be filmed. To prevent further conflict, Hansen’s role was changed from a German professor to a Danish professor. For a more detailed explanation of the process that directors had to undergo to receive approval for foreign actors, read the last paragraph of “Cast selection” here (translation required).

• The meaning behind the title is quite unique. “Autumn” is meant to symbolize that Buzykin is still relatively young, yet no longer 20. “Marathon” signifies that Buzykin keeps running around instead of slowing down to look around and enjoy life.

• While the Soviet Union selected this film as its entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 52nd Academy Awards, it was not nominated over the Soviet entry into Afghanistan.

3. Review

While the name is not reflective of the current season, I couldn’t help but relate to the work habits of the main character, Andrey Buzykin, as he too works as a translator and often ends up spending more time helping others than doing his own work. The comedic interactions between Bill and the others prove to be a light-hearted touch to slightly distract the viewer from the sad reality surrounding Buzykin’s troubled relationships. Unlike traditional comedies where you may find yourself laughing every few minutes, this sad comedy touches upon many difficulties that Soviet people dealt with quite often and, as the end of the film depicts, much of it would feel like a never-ending cycle, so you may find yourself sympathizing more with certain characters.

The details and mise-en-scene of the apartment scenes create a great contrast between the socioeconomic status of Buzykin’s family and his lover, which makes you question whether the typist actually loves Buzykin or whether she is only after elevating her own status. My favorite aspect was the visual degradation of Buzykin’s health and sanity, whether through makeup and appearance or his gradual loss of temper with his closest friends, which emphasizes the fact that he cannot find himself. Finally, like many Soviet films, several phrases emerged from this film’s dialogue, notably the phrase “хорошо сидим”, which translates to “we’re sitting well”, and to this day has been used to express one’s enjoyment with others while drinking. I recommend this film to all not only to enjoy with friends and family but also to learn how to avoid following in the footsteps of Buzykin.

4. Vocabulary

Вытрезвитель - drunk tank (a health institution for sobering up)

Тостуемый пьёт до дна - the one who is toasted to drinks to the bottom

Хорошо сидим - we’re sitting well (having a good time)

Волевой и ценный человек - strong-willed and valuable person

Хворост - Angel wings pastry

Повидло - solid fruit spread

5. Citations

“Autumn Marathon.” IMDb, IMDb.com, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079679/?ref_=ttmi_tt.

“Autumn Marathon.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Oct. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn_Marathon.

Daneliya, Georgiy, director. Осенний Марафон. MosFilm, 1979, https://youtu.be/X4e4-tYlHwo

“Осенний Марафон.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Mar. 2022, https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9E%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%84%D0%BE%D0%BD.

Ruler or School Year Celebration?

Alina Uzakpayeva

What comes to mind when you hear the word “линейка” (ruler)? If it’s that wooden tool for measurements, then you don’t share the excitement that comes with the first and last day of classes for many students in post-Soviet countries. The word “линейка”, beyond its literal meaning of a measurement tool, defines the celebration of the beginning and the end of the school year. The reason why it is called that comes from the tradition that students line up in front of the school building while watching the celebration.

September 1st is when the first линейка of the school year happens; students meet their homeroom teachers and watch performances of the various clubs at the school. The principal usually gives a speech and sets goals for the academic year. A few students march around the building carrying the flag, and the country’s hymn is sung. A first-grader usually runs around the crowd ringing the bell to signify the beginning of the school year. The first-graders then get to walk into their classroom for the first time and meet their classmates who they will be spending the next 11 years with. It’s a very exciting event that all parents attend to cheer on their little ones.

The second линейка of the year occurs on May 25th. This one is called “последний звонок” (the last bell) to signify the end of the school year. This “линейка” is more exciting as it marks the end of final exams. Students usually have exams for all their classes in the middle of May, moreover most of them are oral exams. Students must know all the material they learned, but are only tested on the questions they randomly pull from a stack. Needless to say, “линейка” is a joyous time for everyone. Students who got all-A’s for the year get to wear a sash, stand in front of their class to get the best view of the performance, and are personally given their honor-roll diploma by the principal. In the attached photo, you can see my “линейка” from the end of fourth grade. The graduating seniors usually waltz and release balloons in the air to celebrate the end of their school years. One senior usually carries a first-grader on his shoulder who rings the bell one last time, and the class is dismissed. The “ruler” is over and it’s then time for “summers at the dacha!”

Citations:

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%B7%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%BA