Letter from Moscow: Modern Russian poets

Abstract

Br M edjl990;300:455 Medicine and creative writing have always been asso? ciated in Russian culture. Chekhov and Veresayev at the beginning of the century, Bulgakov in the 1920s and '30s, and Aksyonov today?all were members of the medical profession. But to name someone who was both a poet and a doctor is more difficult. The authors mentioned above did not actually write poetry, though the language of some of Chekhov's and particularly Bulgakov's stories has a distinctly poetic flavour. On the other hand, poetry and poets have tradition? ally had an important role in Russian history, influencing public opinion through their verses? satirical, tragic, and basically critical of officialdom. A poet in Russia is more than just a Yevgeny Yevtushenko, the well known Soviet poet, writes in one of his poems. The late 1960s saw a powerful upsurge of popular interest in poetry. On the crest of this wave many young poets and writers came to the fore, attracting large audiences and leading public discussions. Then the wave subsided as the country entered the dull, stagnant period of the 70s. That was the time when mediocrity flourished, a time of disillusionment, discouragement, and discontent. Paradoxically, that period, coming after the spiritual spring of the early '60s, was to see the birth of a new star in the poetic firmament: the winner of the 1988 Nobel prize for poetry, Joseph Brodsky, the great successor of the greats. In that period of stagnation official censorship viewed with suspicion every piece of writing that contained even a hint of criticism of the established order. Nevertheless, poetry still reached the people, not through official channels but through the use of tape recorders and other modern technical equipment. Poetry now took the form of songs or ballads written and sung by popular bards to the accompaniment of a guitar in clubs, in the homes of friends, and at similar informal gatherings. Like the ballads sung by the bards of old these songs carried a human message. They expressed the unspoken feelings, thoughts, doubts, and hopes of the people. Recorded at once on tapes, they spread their message all over the country with great speed. The songs composed and sung by the pioneer of the genre, Bulat Okudjava, and his famous but completely different contemporaries Alexander Galich and Vladimir Vysotsky could be heard in the homes of leading party officials and in village public meetings alike. They had a powerful appeal for every? one. Galich and Vysotsky are no longer alive, and it was only after 1985, which marked the beginning of perestroika, that they were recognised officially but posthumously; their discs and verses are now readily available in stores. But the tradition did not end there. In the '60s another name became popular?that of Alexander Rosenbaum. Born in 1951 in Leningrad, he graduated The dance of autumn