dumbfoundry

Dead poet becomes Russian pop icon [Russia]:

New Zealand's University of Canterbury associate professor Alexandra Smith delivered a lecture yesterday on Tsvetayeva's rising stardom. Smith is an expert on the works of Tsvetayeva and Aleksandr Pushkin, also a poet and considered the founder of modern Russian literature.

Smith's lecture focused on how Tsvetayeva's work has become a cultural commodity in Russia in the past few decades, elevating her image to that of a pop star. Smith's speech was supplemented with images and audio clips of Tsvetayeva's poems being used as song lyrics.

While Pushkin is still the most widely recognizable and popular Russian poet, according to Smith, she predicts that "Tsvetayeva's time is coming." [...]

In Russia today there are three museums, three monuments and a dozen documentaries dedicated to Tsvetayeva, as well as numerous songs that use her poems as lyrics.

Tsvetayeva's work has also become pervasive in the nationalistic trend of the Russian school curricula. She is "something that can sell," Smith said. "She is a product that could be worked with in many ways. That is what fascinates me."

"There are attempts to canonize her," Smith added, noting that Tsvetayeva has evolved from "an eccentric artist to a cultural figure, a brand name." [...]

"Aleksandr Pushkin, also a poet" -- They certainly don't assume much from the readership of the The Daily Pennsylvanian.

"William Shakespeare, also a playwright"

This entry was posted by eeksypeeksy on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 at 1:11 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.