About the Book
The writing of Boris Mozhaev, available in English for the first time ever in this volume, stands out in terms of narrative style and bold sincerity amongst contemporary Russian writers already translated into English. His insight into Russian life, politics and society, and the rural community in particular, represents a unique voice among the great writers of the twentieth century, who fearlessly and, at great personal sacrifice, wrote what they knew to be the truth about everyday life in Russia. Mozhaev had to fight against Soviet censorship all his life and some of his works were suppressed for over twenty years before they were allowed to be published - always to great critical acclaim. When Mozhaev's story 'Lively' was published, shortly after Alexander Solzhenitsyn's famous story 'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich', it was no less of a cause celebre in Russian literary circles and society. Stylistically, he combines Chekhov's acute eye for detail, evident in his short stories with the wonderful humour and pathos of Gogol, expressed with a unique ear for rural wit and dialogue.
Though the communist regime has collapsed and new leaders have emerged from the shadows, Mozhaev's stories still have a modern resonance and a chillingly poignant relevance, as those in power still conduct themselves with the same Soviet mindset and mentality as they did under the old regime. Mozhaev's writing, still regularly republished in Russia today, has not tarnished with time and it still bears its sharp, critical edge, as cutting as the day it was originally written. Through this volume of translations, Mozhaev is set to take his place amongst the great writers of contemporary Russia accessible to the English-speaking reader. The translator has provided a wealth of background information and copious notes to help the reader better to understand the satire and enjoy the stories.
Table of Contents:
Preface. Contents. List of Illustrations. Acknowledgements. A Note on Transliteration. A Note on Proper Names and Modes of Address. Introduction. The Solzhenitsyn Memoir. Foreword. ?With Boris Mozhaev?. Sania. Lively. One-and-a-Half Square Metres. Old Mother Proshkina. The Saddler. A History of the Village of Brekhovo. Shishigi. Appendix I: The Politics of Soviet Literature: Soviet Realism, the ?Thaws? and Village Prose. Appendix II: Brief Survey of the Soviet Farming System. Glossary. Suggested Further Reading.
About the Author :
Boris Andreevich Mozhaev (1923-1996) was born in the village of Pitelino in the Riazan region (oblast), 196 kilometres south east of Moscow. He attended a local village school and, having completed his secondary education, he worked in a rural school for six months. He applied to enrol in a Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) military engineering and technical college, but he was refused a place on account of his father being officially dubbed an ?enemy of the people?. Mozhaev carried out his military service in the Soviet Far East, near China, after which he managed to gain entry to an engineering college and, at the same time ? 1943-48, he studied in the philological faculty of Leningrad University, following courses on literature and folklore. He also attended meetings and workshops at the Leningrad House of Writers and, subsequently, courses in scriptwriting in Moscow. He returned to the Soviet Far East as a naval engineer, living and serving in China in 1949-51. Even while he was still in the navy, Mozhaev wrote poetry and stories, and he achieved some literary success in that some of his poems were made into popular songs in 1952. Several of his prose works have been adapted for the theatre and for films, while he has also written works specifically for the stage. Some of Mozhaev?s earliest publications were folktales which he had collected for the first time himself. They were tales of a small group of people of Chinese and Mongolian origin, called the Udegei who live in small villages scattered far and wide in the mountains of the Sikhote Alin of Russia?s Maritime Province. Mozhaev introduces a strong ecological theme into his later stories, which also feature some Udegei characters as guides and scouts in the taiga, whose respect for the natural beauty and resources of the area contrast markedly with the spoiling and pillaging of the official Soviet policy of exploiting these natural resources at any cost to workers and the environment. Mozhaev left the navy in 1954 to develop a career in journalism and as a writer of prose fiction, pursuing his principal interest in rural life and agriculture. However, right from the onset of his career, he refused to produce the up-beat copy officially required of him as a journalist. His works show a strong concern for ecological issues. Such stark, unvarnished truth about rural life increasingly earned Mozhaev a reputation as a dissident and politicians and literary critics alike accused him of ?blackening life in the Russian countryside? and ?concentrating too much on the negative aspect of our rural life?. This led to Mozhaev being excluded from the Writers? Union in 1959, which, in effect, meant that he could not longer publish his prose officially. Mozhaev?s story Zhivoi (Lively), published in the same journal as was Solzhenitsyn?s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, under the auspices of the courageous editor, Tvardovskii, caused a major sensation when it appeared. For both these writers, Solzhenitsyn and Mozhaev, these stories launched their careers as writers who would not avoid difficult and contentious issues, but it also meant that they were more than ever under the watchful eye of Soviet censorship. On a happier note, it was Solzhenitsyn?s story which brought him and Mozhaev together, when they formed a close friendship which was to last for the rest of Mozhaev?s life. This friendship is recounted in most touching terms in a memoir Solzhenitsyn wrote on the first anniversary of Mozhaev?s death. Although the picture Mozhaev paints of rural life is generally bleak, he did write about it in a comic vein and he can be seen at his most humorous in his story A History of the Village of Br?khovo, Written by P?tr Afanasievich Bulkin. Mozhaev?s ridiculing of official Soviet historiography, politics, and associated Soviet rhetoric, and the story includes scenes of near slapstick comedy reminiscent of Gogol, but set in the context of major events in Soviet history, such as collectivization and dekulakization. Mozhaev differs markedly from other writers who were his contemporaries and who also wrote on rural themes ? the so-called ?village prose writers? of the late 1950s to the late 1970s. His work has a strong publicistic quality, he uses a variety of genres, and he often addresses issues of agricultural practice and organization current at the time of writing. He had a keen concern for ecological issues and law-breaking, which was officially ignored. Some of Mozhaev?s works ? particularly his later works ? have a profound, philosophical aspect to them, when he questions the tenets of Marxist-Leninist thinking at the very foundation of the Soviet regime. Mozhaev?s novel Peasant Folk (1976-87), about the campaign for the full collectivization of agriculture, is written on a Dostoevskian scale. The novel was received to great public and critical acclaim, but the second part, Book II, had to wait for the liberal era of glasnost and perestroika before its publication could even be contemplated. Mozhaev received the USSR State Prize for Literature for Book II of the novel in 1989. Mozhaev?s works regularly appear in reprinted collections and volumes in Russia and readers find his works just as fresh and relevant today, as when they were originally written. David Holohan (the translator) read French and Russian at Queen Mary College, University of London, and subsequently was awarded a PhD at the University of Bath on the writing of Boris Mozhaev. He also studied at Moscow State University and other universities and institutions in Russia under the auspices of the British Council. He has taught Russian in schools and at the University of Surrey, where he was head of Russian. He has written on Mozhaev and other contemporary Russian writers, and he is currently preparing the first comprehensive study of Mozhaev?s life and career. He is also translating more of Mozhaev?s works. He lives in London with his partner.
Review :
?I now realise what a unique talent Mozhaev is and how brave it was of him to write what he did. In making his works available in English, David Holohan has done him and all of us a great service. The translation is spot on and captures the peasant speech and irony wonderfully.? James Riordan, Professor Emeritus at The University of Surrey.
