Russian literary giant Pushkin labelled as a peddler of porn

Scotsman.com ^ | 1/30/05 | MURDO MACLEOD

[Eva]

Russian literary giant Pushkin labelled as a peddler of porn

MURDO MACLEOD

HE IS the all-time giant of Russian literature, who shaped the literary heritage of the world’s biggest country.

But now Alexander Pushkin’s legacy is in danger of being tainted by an argument over whether some of his early work is pornographic, and whether his ‘adult verses’ even came from the pen of the ‘National Poet’.

A collection of his poems has been seized by Russian police as part of a crack-down on "obscene" literature. The move has horrified the nation’s literati in a country where serious literature is a serious business and popular with the masses. Only last week, Moscow’s foreign ministry published a book of poems by the nation’s diplomats.

The verses by Pushkin and another giant of Russian writing, Mikhail Lermontov, have been seized by Russian police in the city of Ivanovo, 160 miles north-east of Moscow.

[Eva]

More bad news out of Russia as the country reverts to their communist past.

[Eva]

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[x]

The play/film "Amadeus" was based on Pushkin's playlet "Mozart and Salieri" and that leads to the question whether "Amadeus's" hero may have been more Pushkin than Mozart.

Pushkin had the ability to "compartmentalize," writing at the same time beautiful poetry about women of his acquaintance, and rather crude remarks about them in his correspondence, so it wouldn't be surprising if he actually wrote the disputed poems.

[Ciexyz]

Ah, is there no respect anymore for the great Russian literary masters?!

[Ciexyz]

The DVD "Onegin" starring Ralph Fiennes and Liv Tyler (Lord of the Rings) is available for rental in major video outlets.

[Eva]

I have actually read very little Puskin and was totally unaware that the movie about Mozart was based on his writing, but now I'm going to have to seek out some of his supposedly erotic poetry. Censorship of renowned literature is very scary. The puritanic bent of the communists comes from their lack of religion. They think that they can legislate morality to replace religious moral guidance.

[Eva]

Maybe this will have the opposite effect and encourage the youth to read Pushkin like the kids read Lady Chatterly's Lover when I was in high school.

[nothingnew]

A collection of his poems has been seized by Russian police as part of a crack-down on "obscene" literature.

"Dere once was a comrade from Nuntuckset

Who's xxxxx whas so loong he could...never mind.

FMCDH(BITS)

[Eva]

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[antiRepublicrat]

Censorship of renowned literature is very scary. The puritanic bent of the communists comes from their lack of religion.

That doesn't sound right considering the religious crusaders we have in this country. Most, if not all, literary censorship in this country is driven by religious people.

They think that they can legislate morality to replace religious moral guidance.

We do that all the time here, too, usually driven by religion.

[antiRepublicrat]

Maybe this will have the opposite effect and encourage the youth to read Pushkin like the kids read Lady Chatterly's Lover when I was in high school.

That's what I was thinking. Usually the banning or censoring of anything pushes the sales far beyond what they would have been without the ban.

[Ciexyz]

I can't remember anything overly erotic about the Pushkin I read in college, but the poetry did include long passages of unrequited love, gloom, doom, and misery of a broken heart. Maybe if they really wanted to read something erotic into it....after all, those Russian winters were brutally frigid....

[jb6]

Of course, we never do this here.

Enforcement of the Obscenity Laws Is Not Censorship

Too many members of the public are misled into believing that the First Amendment's "free speech" liberties cover everything that is written, spoken, or pictured. Not true. Here's a short list of actions that can be punished "after the fact" without violating the First Amendment:

perjury
libel
contempt of court
false advertising
falsely shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theater
copyright infringement
using a loudspeaker at 3 a.m. in a residential
neighborhood
child pornography
obscenity

[jb6]

By the way, like the US, Russian oblasts have a lot of power to enact laws of their own, just like our states. These can then be taken up the judicial chain to the country's supreme court. Thus, if one oblast does this, that does not mean the federal goverment is behind it.

We had an article earlier this week that a municpality banned spelling quizes because as far as they are concerned, this violated the No Child Left Behind, because not everyone would be a winner.

Your reponse is the same as saying: it's Bush's fault.

Russia is a multi party republic, so different municipalities and parties work differently and are not under the President's control there, no more then here.

[jb6]

Lets keep in mind that this is one oblast's work (state's), it will more then likely be appealed in the courts till it reaches the Russian Supreme Courts. No different then in our own system. Look at the crazy crap that comes out of California and Washington. California allows kids to go for abortions during school time while not telling parents. Blaming this on DC and Bush is wrong. Same with this.

[Eva]

It's good to hear that this censorship may not be a state order, but rather a local one.

[Eva]

Yes, but we proved that legislating morality doesn't work when we tried prohibition, at least not legislating against something that is already accepted.

[jb6]

Some of their state admins/governors or what ever the hell they call them, have taken their Christianity a bit to far (I'm a religious Christian but they get zealous). I think it arises from being the newly converted and their zeal for it.

In Ivanova they also out lawed cursing. Two reporters went there and started cursing on purpose to get arrested (to write a story). They wound up spending a day in prison and then getting a religious/morality lecture from the police chief.

This is just as stupid as several Duma members attempted to get public kissing out lawed. There was a lot of hype here in the US and it was killed by the majority of the Duma, who were more sensible. This is just as stupid as when the 19 Duma members (4% of the Duma) tried to get Jewish organizations banned and two days later took it back under massive pressure.

Unfortunetly, expect a lot of these stunts, as the various parties and poles of religion/society try to feel out what can fly. In our own society, there are still occassional wackos (like the schmuck who tried to ban "under God" from the pledge and other such things) but a lot of the limits are already set and known. Still, the gay's are pushing hard.

[jb6]

Yes, but we proved that legislating morality doesn't work when we tried prohibition, at least not legislating against something that is already accepted.

No we didn't. We proved that the right can't legislate morality but we never proved that the left can't. Aka: hate crimes, gay "rights", children's "rights", animal "rights, etc".

[Alouette]

Here's a short list of actions that can be punished "after the fact" without violating the First Amendment:

perjury
libel
contempt of court
false advertising
falsely shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theater
copyright infringement
using a loudspeaker at 3 a.m. in a residential neighborhood
child pornography
obscenity

hate speech, defined as:
anything that is critical of Islam
anything that is critical of homosexuals