Peter the Great's African: Experiments in Prose

4,5*<br /><br />“Of all the young men who have been educated in foreign lands the Tsar’s negro (the Lord forgive me!) is more of a man than any.”<br />“Dear me, prince!” said Tatiana Afanassyevna. “I have seen him, seen him quite close... what a dreadful visage! I was quite scared.<br /><br />Encontrei em “The Negro of Peter the Great” exactamente o mesmo escritor empolgante e irresistível que em “Dama de Espadas”e lamentei não conhecer o final quando esta história inacabada chegou ao fim, a meio de uma frase. Alexander Pushkin inspirou-se no seu bisavô materno, um africano trazido para a Rússia, para criar Ibrahim, um protegido do Czar Pedro o Grande, que regressa de Paris, onde esteve a restabelecer-se de ferimentos sofridos na guerra, para uma corte russa não tão deslumbrante mas em profunda transformação, que o olha com desconfiança e até aversão.<br /><br />“But what can we do, if we are not free in the matter?” retorted Kirila Petrovich. “Many a husband would be only too glad to shut up his wife in the women’s apartments at the top at the top of the house, but they come with beating drums to summon her to the Assembly. The husband goes after the whip, but the wife is busy dressing. Ugh, those Assemblies! They’re the Lord’s punishment for our sins.

"<i>This power of the Negro to suck up the national spirit from the soil and create something artistic and original, which, at the same time, possesses the note of universal appeal, is due to a remarkable racial gift of adaptability; it is more than adaptability, it is a transfusive quality. And the Negro has exercised this transfusive quality not only here in America, where the race lives in large numbers, but in European countries, where the number has been almost infinitesimal.<br /><br />Is it not curious to know that the greatest poet of Russia is <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/16070.Alexander_Pushkin" title="Alexander Pushkin" rel="noopener">Alexander Pushkin</a>, a man of African descent; that the greatest romancer of France is <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/4785.Alexandre_Dumas" title="Alexandre Dumas" rel="noopener">Alexandre Dumas</a>, a man of African descent; and that one of the greatest musicians of England is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Coleridge-Taylor" rel="nofollow noopener">Coleridge-Taylor</a>, a man of African descent?<br /><br />The fact is fairly well known that the father of Dumas was a <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/13330922.The_Black_Count_Glory__Revolution__Betrayal__and_the_Real_Count_of_Monte_Cristo" title="The Black Count Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss" rel="noopener">Negro of the French West Indies</a>, and that the father of Coleridge-Taylor was a native-born African; but the facts concerning Pushkin's African ancestry are not so familiar.<br /><br />When Peter the Great was Czar of Russia, some potentate presented him with a full-blooded Negro of gigantic size. Peter, the most eccentric ruler of modern times, dressed this Negro up in soldier clothes, christened him [Abraham Petrovich] Hannibal, and made him a special body-guard.<br /><br />But Hannibal had more than size, he had brain and ability. He not only looked picturesque and imposing in soldier clothes, he showed that he had in him the making of a real soldier. Peter recognized this, and eventually made him a general. He afterwards ennobled him, and Hannibal, later, married one of the ladies of the Russian court. This same Hannibal was great-grandfather of Pushkin, the national poet of Russia, the man who bears the same relation to Russian literature that Shakespeare bears to English literature.</i>" - <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/29617.James_Weldon_Johnson" title="James Weldon Johnson" rel="noopener">James Weldon Johnson</a>, <i> <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/11184888.The_Book_of_American_Negro_Poetry" title="The Book of American Negro Poetry by James Weldon Johnson" rel="noopener">The Book of American Negro Poetry</a> </i><br /><br /><br />I have been reading Russian literature for awhile, but I have finally read something by the Father of Russian Literature. Of course, what I have chosen to read first is his first effort, unpublished during his life, at writing prose. Alexander Pushkin was already well-known as the great poet of the day, but he wanted to show he could write prose like the writers of western Europe that he loved. His first effort was a biography of his great-grandfather <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abram_Petrovich_Gannibal" rel="nofollow noopener">Abram Petrovich Gannibal</a>. Gannibal was from Cameroon, he had been kidnapped in Cameroon and made his way to Petersburg where he was presented as a "gift" to the city's founder: Czar Peter the Great. This was in the beginning of Peter's reform movement to break Russia from its Mongolian past and move closer to the West. As it was, the Russian Empire did not have a need for the African Slave Trade because it was still very much practicing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serfdom_in_Russia" rel="nofollow noopener">Russian serfdom</a>. So Gannibal was instead baptized into the Russian Orthodox Church and became the godson of Peter the Great. <br /><br />This book was not finished, so it exist as a fragment of what was obviously suppose to be a bigger story. It begins with Abram stationed in Paris assisting the French military government, before going back to Petersburg to take his place proper in Peter's Russia. Given Pushkin's reputation as an out-spoken liberal in post-Napoleonic era Europe, he made sure to contrast the old guard nobles, with the Great Reformer Peter; even in this scrapped work, you see why this guy is considered the beginning of Russian literature as we know it today. I do like how he shows, without hesitation, the reaction of the obviously prejudiced European nobility to Abram and Abram's humanity and, unlike other writers of the day who portrayed black folk, Pushkin does not let the narration or his great-grandfather become a stereotype. Gannibal is just a regular guy navigating France and Russia in this book. <br /><br />With all that being said, this story ends mid-sentence. We know that certain parts of this book were given artistic license by Pushkin (for obvious reasons), we can only imagine where he would have taken the story, but we do know that it would have been good. The translation I read by <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/436207.Rosemary_Edmonds" title="Rosemary Edmonds" rel="noopener">Rosemary Edmonds</a> was excellent for an older English translation. I look forward to reading more on and by Alexander Pushkin.

YouTube kanalımda <b>Puşkin</b>'in hayatı, bütün kitapları ve kronolojik okuma sırası hakkında bilgi edinebilirsiniz:<br /><a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://youtu.be/nljKaOPQcBI">https://youtu.be/nljKaOPQcBI</a><br /><br />Yarım kalmış olmasına rağmen Puşkin okumak isteyenler için en iyi başlangıç eserlerinden biri. Rus sosyetesi ve sosyete arasında <b>gizli kalmış potansiyel ırkçılığın</b>, hatta görücü usulü Rus evliliğinin yaklaşık 190 yıl önce özgün bir şekilde Puşkin tarafından yazımını içeren eser aslında Dostoyevski'nin eserlerinde de sıkça bahsedilen özgür düşüncenin o zamanların Rusyasında yasak oluşunun anlaşılması açısından da aydınlatıcı nitelik taşımakta. Yarım kalmış olması ise Puşkin'in bundan sonraki eserleri açısından perçinleyici bir görev görüyor. Bir hocamın dediği bir söz vardır : <i>"En güzel buluşma yarım kalandır."</i>

Un romanzo incompleto su suo nonno, il negro di Pietro il Grande, Abram Petrovič Gannibal (1696 – 14 maggio 1781). Confesso che ci sono restato a bocca larga (nella mia ignoranza non lo sapevo). Lode a Pietro, completamente libero da pregiudizi razziali. Forse etiope-eritreo, fu portato in Russia a Pietro il Grande, che lo adottò, ne fu padrino a battesimo e lo fece studiare in Francia. Divenne maggior generale del Genio militare, governatore di Reval e nobile dell'Impero Russo. Gannibal, da Hannibal, l'altro grande generale dell'Africa. Bello, ma rimasto incompleto, del 1827.

Ακόμα και το ατελείωτο και δίχως επιμέλεια αυτό κείμενο του Πούσκιν, δείχνει την μεγαλοφυία του ποιητή. Πρόκειται για την ιστορία του προπάππου του, Ιμπραήμ Αννίβα: ενός μαύρου σκλάβου που αγοράστηκε από την Κωνσταντινούπολη από τον πρέσβη της Ρωσίας, τον παππού του συγγραφέα Τολστόι επί εποχής Μεγάλου Πέτρου. Ο τσάρος έστειλε τον Ιμπραήμ στην Γαλλία για σπουδές, όπου εκπαιδεύτηκε στην μηχανική και στα μαθηματικά και πολέμησε στο πλευρό των Γάλλων εναντίον των Ισπανών. Γυρίζοντας πίσω στην Ρωσία ο Ιμπραήμ εξελίχτηκε σε έναν από τους εκλεκτότερους υπασπιστές του τσάρου. Ο Μεγάλος Πέτρος, προοδευτικός και ευρωπαϊστής, με την συμπάθειά του στον Ιμπραήμ, ήθελε να αποδείξει σε όλους τους σλαβόφιλους και τους παλιούς αριστοκράτες, ότι ένας μαύρος αν εκπαιδευτεί σωστά έχει ακριβώς τις ίδιες πιθανότητες με έναν Ρώσο να γίνει μεγάλος και τρανός. Ο Ιμπραήμ παντρεύτηκε μια Ρωσίδα αριστοκράτισσα και μαζί της έκανε έντεκα παιδιά, διέπρεψε ως στρατηγός στον ρωσικό στρατό και πέθανε γαλήνια σε βαθιά γεράματα, μόλις λίγα χρόνια πριν την γέννηση του πασίγνωστου δισέγγονού του. Άφησε πίσω του δυο θαύματα: τον ποιητή Αλέξανδρο Πούσκιν και τα οχυρωματικά έργα της Βαλτικής που ήταν τόσο πετυχημένα και γερά που άντεξαν έως και τον Β Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο.

I really wish he'd finished writing this. I'd like to have seen whether Natasha's feelings toward Ibrahim changed and if Ibrahim's internalized self-hatred ever resolved itself.

Κοιτάω την οθόνη κάποια ώρα και σκέφτομαι τι πρέπει να γράψω, ή πώς να το εξηγήσω. Πρόκειται για ένα χειρόγραφο, ένα προσωπικό, ημιτελές, αχτένιστο, χειρόγραφο λίγων μόλις σελίδων, που γραφόταν σε ώρες σχόλης, στα όρια της απαντοχής για ένα κόσμο τύπων, δουλοκρατικό και άρα εξ’ ορισμού ρατσιστή, αλλοπρόσαλλο που ανάμεσα στα στάχυα ξεφύτρωναν ελάχιστες ορχιδέες σαν αδίστακτα, άκαμπτα, αρνούμενα να υποκύψουν ζιζάνια, απατηλός κόσμος ανάμεσα σε μια Παλινόρθωση και μια Ελληνική Επανάσταση, ανάμεσα στο Βύρωνα και τον Αλέξανδρο. Αυτό το χειρόγραφο, μα κι η ζωή όλη του Πούσκιν μου έφεραν στο νου ένα τραγούδι: Poets of the fall – Where do we draw the line. Μακάρι όλα τα σύγχρονα ημιτελή έργα να ήταν σα τη Λαμιέλ και το Νέγρο. Τώρα είδα από πού πήρε το Στιεπαντσίκοβο, το μπρίο του. <br /><br />Σφραγίδα του Πούσκιν είναι η κατάσταση της ασημαντότητας, ανεξάρτητα που εδράζεται. Εδώ στον Ξεχωριστό Νέγρο που ποθεί την ομοιογένεια, τα κοινά χαρακτηριστικά, μα ποτέ! Την ίδια κονσερβαρισμένη συμπεριφορά κι αλλού… την ασημαντότητα της ύπαρξης ανθρώπων ευνοημένων, Περιττών όπως θα έγραφε ο μεγαλύτερος Ρώσος συγγραφέας. Εδώ ζητά εκείνο που δε σε ξεχωρίζει φανερά, δε σ’ ακολουθεί με τους ψίθυρους της αδιακρισίας, σαν ένας πολυέλαιος να σε φωτίζει, για όλους τους λάθος λόγους, να μη σ’ αφήνει να είσαι ανάμεσα στους άλλους, όπως είσαι με τον εαυτό σου. <br /><br />Δεν καταφέρνει να περάσει τον έρωτα για την Κόμισσα Λ., δεν πείθει. Μα αυτό για το οποίο πείθει χωρίς τον παραμικρό κόπο, μόνο με απροσμέτρητη αγάπη, είναι για τη στοργή του Μεγάλου Πέτρου, που έχει διαποτίσει τις σελίδες εδώ και 180 χρόνια, για το Νέγρο, όσο και για τη διορατικότητα αυτού του τσάρου που ήταν τόσο ξεχωριστός όσο κι ο Νέγρος του. Ασυμβίβαστος, δαίμονας, πανέξυπνος, ανθρωπιστής, θετικιστής, προοδευτικός.<br /><br />Οι παράπλευροι χαρακτήρες χρειάζονταν ένα με δυο τσικ για να μοιάσουν πιστευτοί, ρεαλιστικοί έστω, αλλά οι δυο κεντρικοί σχεδόν ζωντανεύουν. Ο Νέγρος με το πάθος, το άγχος, τη φλόγα του για το σημάδι του στη ζωή, καθησυχασμένος απ’ αγάπη του τσάρου, μα στερημένος απ’ αληθινά συναισθήματα απ’ οποιονδήποτε άλλο, κλεισμένος στις συμβάσεις, στον απόηχο ενός Παρισιού που έσβησαν οι ματαιοδοξίες του, μα όχι και τα αρώματα, το χρώμα που έβγαζε αυθεντικότητα κι ο έρωτας. Κι ο Πέτρος, περνάει με όλο του το νεύρο, την ειρωνεία, την αίσθηση δικαίου και την αγάπη για το βαφτισιμιό του. Κι ο κόσμος στις πιο ιλαρές στιγμές και στις πλέον βαρετές μαστίζεται απ’ τους ξενομανείς για όλα τα λάθος στοιχεία κι απ’ την άλλη απ’ το αραχνιασμένο παλαιό καθεστώς που λοιδορεί τους μαϊμουδισμούς και περιφρουρείται στην αλύγιστη απανθρωπιά του, που βάζει τον τύπο πάνω απ’ τον άνθρωπο.<br /><br />Αν μόνο είχε ολοκληρωθεί…<br /><br />3.5<br />

*Read for class.<br /><br />Are you kidding me? I knew it was unfinished, but I thought it had a further developed plot. I hoped to find out more, cause I liked it quite a bit. Goddammit, Pushkin! Again!

pushkin is always great, but wow i'm glad i was born in today's times

Too bad it was never finished, it was pretty good.