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Full Description
Joseph Brodsky (1940-1996) is the only Russian poet who has been taken seriously by Russian leaders: Khrushchev sent him to the Gulag (1964), Brezhnev exiled him (1972), Gorbachev paid him a visit in the Library of Congress (1992), and Chernomyrdin demanded that his body be returned to Russia (1996). He is the most important poet Russia has produced in the second part of the twentieth century. Nobody after Pushkin has done as much as Brodsky for Russian poetry, introducing many features of English and American poetics, a new linguistic substratum to Russian poetry, new genres, and a new mentality. He replaced the hot-blooded, hysterical note of Russian poetry with a rational approach to the most profound problems of our time. His tragic perception of the world combines with skilfully camouflaged irony, self-deprecation, and technical virtuosity.Professor Emeritus of Russian Literature Valentina Polukhina, who knew Brodsky well over a long period, has been studying and writing about him for at least 30 years. Her second volume of interviews draws on eye-witness accounts of his friends, publishers, editors, translators, and fellow poets.
It is a series of important discussions on the style, ideas, and personality of one of the most brilliant and paradoxical poets of our time. Subtle, incisive, and rigorous in its critical evaluation, each discussion significantly advances our understanding of Brodsky's complex poetic world. All discussions are linked by core questions that are carefully and sometimes provocatively formulated. This collection of 40 interviews illuminates a peculiarly intriguing contemporary phenomenon and affords a fascinating insight into the American literary scene.
Contents
Introduction. List of Photographs. Acknowledgements. I . JOHN L E CARRÉ. A Great Talent that was a bit of an Orphan. MIKHAIL HEIFETS . The Empire he was Loyal to was the Russian Language. LEV LOSEFF. He Lived at Extraordinary Pace. IGOR EFIMOV. Navigators in the Ocean of Spirit. GENRIKH STEINBERG . Joseph Wanted to Know Everything. EDWARD BLOOMSTEIN. Penetrating to the Depth of Things. MIKHAIL ARDOV. Leaving this Place is Impossible but Living here is also - Inconceivable. OLEG TSELKOV. With his Own Point of View on Everything. TOMAS VENCLOVA. He Tended to Ascribe his own Traits to Other Poets. VIKTOR GOLYSHEV. He was too Democratic to be an 'Aesthete'. ALEKSANDR SUMERKIN. Continuation of Poetry by Other Means. PETR VAIL . Brodsky's Poetic Globe is Equal to the Geographical one. BENGT JANGFELDT. The Terrible Fate of a Russian Poet. I I. LUDMILA SHTERN. He Needed to have this kind of Dulcinea. NATALYA GORBANEVSKAYA. He was Lonely Everywhere. ZOFIA KAPUSCINSKA. In Search of New Meaning. ANNIE EPELBOIN. Generations of Suffering People Speaking through him Over the Ages. ELENA CHERNYSHEVA. Russia was his Heartache. NATASHA SPENDER. Ranging over Poetry of all Ages. SUSAN SONTAG. He Landed among us like a Missile . ANNELISA ALLEVA. There was a Lot of him, a Whole Mosaic. TATIANA RETIVOV. His Voice Remains Unique. TATIANA SHCHERBINA. A Demiurge, a Prophet, a Philosopher. DASHA BASMANOVA. A Unique Sense of Internal Freedom and Self-esteem. PASHA BASMANOVA. His World is Language. ANASTASIYA KUZNETSOVA. One can be Worthy of him Only in a Loving Way. I I I SEAMUS HEANEY. The Young Poet in him Never Aged. MARK STRAND. Joseph was a Great Choice for Poet Laureate. DEREK WALCOTT. Almost Medieval Devotion to his Craft. JONATHAN AARON. He Pushed English to its Limits. WILLIAM WADSWORTH. A Turbulent Affair with the English Language. LES MURRAY. English for him was Associated with Civilization. MATTHEW SPENDER. A Necessary Smile. SAM BRUSSELL. He Restored to Poetry its Metaphysical Dimension. IV. ALAN MYERS . The Handmaid of Genius. DANIEL WEISSBORT. Nothing is Impossible. PETER FRANCE. A Dictionary-haunted Poetry. MICHAEL SCAMMELL . He Responded to Christianity Aesthetically. PAUL KEEGAN. He Wanted to Infect English with the Virus of History. ROGER STRAUS . A Great Poet was Living among us. Name Index.
