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azbukivediRe-read yesterday’s post. Feisty. What got me so bursting with piss and vinegar? Not sure, but probably the conversation with S. It’s a good thing I did not imply that I myself am an intellectual. Or did I? Well, I am not, although my mind is kicking higher than most (a good analogy – my mind is dancing cancan, while his is dancing rumba. Rumba? Neh, more like twitching to some Donna Summer tune).
A more interesting question would be why pseudo-intellectualism has taken such a hold in the Russian community. One explanation is that while in America people can set themselves apart by status and money, it was pretty darn hard to do in the ex-SU. What distinguishes a doctor from a plumber if the former makes less money and needs to borrow 3 bucks before the next salary installment? Why, he reads, attends movie premiers, speaks in conditional dependent clauses, and knows his conjunctions from his prepositions and his Manet from his Mone (a new theory: near-sitedness was the mother of impressionism, the guys just didn’t have glasses). In addition, we were immersed in the European culture: French music, Italian cinema, English cooking. Ok, just kidding about the last one. Here, in the US, it becomes a conflict of the consciousness: pseudo-intellectuals want to set themselves apart from average Americans by status and money (as is customary here), but the old standards hold in the Russian community, which is somewhat less impressed with your new BMW. How do you appear important in the group of noveu-riches of Russian descent who all own new BMWs or Volvos? You dig in the bag of old tricks and read some Pelevin or watch the latest Lars von Trier movie. This rule does not apply everywhere, and it is, admittedly, a gross simplification, but it approximates the situation I often encounter. Skimming the top of the popular European/Russian culture (as opposed to the mainstream popular culture in the US) is an easy way to feel en vogue. And it has little to do with actually flexing the intellectual muscles.
OK, now I’ve cleared my mind. Will write more as I think of it more.
A more interesting question would be why pseudo-intellectualism has taken such a hold in the Russian community. One explanation is that while in America people can set themselves apart by status and money, it was pretty darn hard to do in the ex-SU. What distinguishes a doctor from a plumber if the former makes less money and needs to borrow 3 bucks before the next salary installment? Why, he reads, attends movie premiers, speaks in conditional dependent clauses, and knows his conjunctions from his prepositions and his Manet from his Mone (a new theory: near-sitedness was the mother of impressionism, the guys just didn’t have glasses). In addition, we were immersed in the European culture: French music, Italian cinema, English cooking. Ok, just kidding about the last one. Here, in the US, it becomes a conflict of the consciousness: pseudo-intellectuals want to set themselves apart from average Americans by status and money (as is customary here), but the old standards hold in the Russian community, which is somewhat less impressed with your new BMW. How do you appear important in the group of noveu-riches of Russian descent who all own new BMWs or Volvos? You dig in the bag of old tricks and read some Pelevin or watch the latest Lars von Trier movie. This rule does not apply everywhere, and it is, admittedly, a gross simplification, but it approximates the situation I often encounter. Skimming the top of the popular European/Russian culture (as opposed to the mainstream popular culture in the US) is an easy way to feel en vogue. And it has little to do with actually flexing the intellectual muscles.
OK, now I’ve cleared my mind. Will write more as I think of it more.
