September 26, 2008

Our Cartoonist on CNN!


I just stumbled across this nice interview (July 07) of Victor Bogorad, who does the cartoons for our Survival Russian feature. Too bad the video is not archived online... [here is his blog, btw]

And here is his take on the current financial crisis (caption: "Normal citizens have nothing to fear from the financial crisis")



(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From a small apartment in St. Petersburg, political cartoonist Victor Bogorad projects his view of Russian life. And in his view, real politics in Russia has disappeared.

"I'm telling you, it just doesn't exist," he chuckles. "There are parties, but no politics."

As Victor takes pen to paper, he is in a world of black on white. Bogorad said he is free to draw what he likes, but editors of major of newspapers simply don't publish anything that might be considered controversial or offensive to pro-Kremlin politicians.

He depicted the situation in a drawing he made for us, asserting the press voluntarily position themselves as captives behind the security services and bureaucrats who run Russia today.

"I have no idea whether Putin has a thin or a thick skin," he says. "Under the system that he created, local administrators are trying to please him, trying to prevent any criticism. I think this is what you might call, 'local initiative'?"

"The result," he says, "is that Russia's media censors itself to remain in favor. It is not just the journalists who are held captive." In another quickly-penned impression, Victor Bogorad depicts Russia's situation like this.

The journalists, who are supposed to be doing the reporting, are in one cage. And their viewers, readers, or listeners are, as a result, in nothing less than a cage themselves.

"The majority of our population lived under the Soviet Union when everything was decided for them. They are used to this situation. From my point of view, we are going back to the Soviet Union. A lot of people are happy when things are decided for them, when they have a job and a stable salary."

For Bogorad, things were preferable in what he calls "the time of chaos," the Yeltsin years. His thousands of cartoons are a catalogue of the personalities and controversies that shape the new Russia.

If past is prologue, Bogorad says he doesn't need glasses to see what lies ahead. Timid newspaper editors will continue to watch their readership decline. The big television media will keep Kremlin critics off the air.

But as he depicts here, the younger generation is already turning to the Internet for news. It doesn't matter whether parents in the home or Putin up on the big screen want them to do otherwise. It is a fact they are powerless to change.

"I'm moderately optimistic," he chuckles, "why? Well, as they say, a pessimist is a well-informed optimist. In my case, I probably don't know a lot yet." Fortunately for Russia, what he knows he shares each time he puts pen to paper.

Jim Clancy, CNN, St. Petersburg.

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955