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Re: Pushkin in the Boondocks? Teaching Contemporary Lit (fwd)
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Just a comment on the below. There was some years ago a series of "classic"
comic books aimed at black school kids. One was a biography of Pushkin.
Might be interesting to compare the images.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Galya Diment" <galya@u.washington.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Monday, July 03, 2000 9:28 AM
Subject: Re: Pushkin in the Boondocks? Teaching Contemporary Lit (fwd)
> From: Paul Sonnenburg <rover@cais.com>
>
> Galya Diment wrote:
> >
> > Couldn't resist -- A very curious letter in [today's] Washington Post:
>
> > Pushkin in the Boondocks? / Monday, July 3, 2000; A18
> > Has anyone noticed the striking facial resemblance between the young
> > rebel Riley in the Boondocks comic and ..Pushkin? ... It's worthwhile
> > to compare a drawing of Riley and a self-portrait of Pushkin that
> > appears in "St. Petersburg: A Cultural History."
> > FRANCIS X. CUNNINGHAM / Arlington
>
> Mr. Cunningham's amusing speculation begins innocently enough, but as is
> not uncommon with the publication process, it appears to this admirer of
> Aaron McGruder's sometimes mordant strip that either Mr. Cunningham in his
> choice of brothers or the layout editors at the Post, or both, have their
> characters switched. The Cunningham letter is accompanied by facing
> drawings: on the right is the sketch of Pushkin; on the left is _not_ the
> Boondocks younger brother, Riley, but the older brother, Huey. In looking
> at several of the recent strips, it's easy to see Mr. Cunningham's
> projected resemblance of the Riley character's profile to the Pushkin
> sketch, far less so a similarity between Huey and the poet.
Simultaneously,
> in the comic strip's continuing storyline, it is surely Huey who earns the
> honorific "young rebel": unlike his more experienced brother, the younger
> Riley's hostility is seldom grounded in principle and rarely rises above
> petulant annoyance. Such distinctions probably don't matter in the
> grander scheme, but in a forum devoted to VN, perhaps they matter
> some. And if they don't get the lawn mowed soon, both Huey and Riley
> should be less worried about duels than Granddad.
>
> Paul Sonnenburg
> Washington, D.C.
comic books aimed at black school kids. One was a biography of Pushkin.
Might be interesting to compare the images.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Galya Diment" <galya@u.washington.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Monday, July 03, 2000 9:28 AM
Subject: Re: Pushkin in the Boondocks? Teaching Contemporary Lit (fwd)
> From: Paul Sonnenburg <rover@cais.com>
>
> Galya Diment wrote:
> >
> > Couldn't resist -- A very curious letter in [today's] Washington Post:
>
> > Pushkin in the Boondocks? / Monday, July 3, 2000; A18
> > Has anyone noticed the striking facial resemblance between the young
> > rebel Riley in the Boondocks comic and ..Pushkin? ... It's worthwhile
> > to compare a drawing of Riley and a self-portrait of Pushkin that
> > appears in "St. Petersburg: A Cultural History."
> > FRANCIS X. CUNNINGHAM / Arlington
>
> Mr. Cunningham's amusing speculation begins innocently enough, but as is
> not uncommon with the publication process, it appears to this admirer of
> Aaron McGruder's sometimes mordant strip that either Mr. Cunningham in his
> choice of brothers or the layout editors at the Post, or both, have their
> characters switched. The Cunningham letter is accompanied by facing
> drawings: on the right is the sketch of Pushkin; on the left is _not_ the
> Boondocks younger brother, Riley, but the older brother, Huey. In looking
> at several of the recent strips, it's easy to see Mr. Cunningham's
> projected resemblance of the Riley character's profile to the Pushkin
> sketch, far less so a similarity between Huey and the poet.
Simultaneously,
> in the comic strip's continuing storyline, it is surely Huey who earns the
> honorific "young rebel": unlike his more experienced brother, the younger
> Riley's hostility is seldom grounded in principle and rarely rises above
> petulant annoyance. Such distinctions probably don't matter in the
> grander scheme, but in a forum devoted to VN, perhaps they matter
> some. And if they don't get the lawn mowed soon, both Huey and Riley
> should be less worried about duels than Granddad.
>
> Paul Sonnenburg
> Washington, D.C.