I belong to Russian literature, but I am an American citizen, and I think it's the best possible combination.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the blend of cultural identity, highlighting the enrichment that comes from belonging to two different literary traditions.
Joseph Brodsky's quote expresses his dual identity as a Russian literary figure and an American citizen, emphasizing how this combination allows him to draw from a rich cultural heritage while also embracing the freedoms and opportunities that come with American citizenship. He suggests that the synthesis of these two worlds enhances his perspective and creativity, showcasing how diverse influences can lead to a more profound artistic expression.
In practice
In a speech about cultural diversity, one might quote this to highlight the beauty of blending different literary traditions.
Basically, it's hard for me to assess myself, a hardship not only prompted by the immodesty of the enterprise, but because one is not capable of assessing himself, let alone his work. However, if I were to summarize, my main interest is the nature of time. That's what interests me most of all. What time can do to a man.
One always pulls the trigger out of self-interest and quotes history to avoid responsibility or pangs of conscience.
On the whole, infinity is a fairly palpable aspect of this business of publishing, if only because it extends a dead author's existence beyond the limits he envisioned, or provides a living author with a future he cannot measure. In other words, this business deals with the future which we all prefer to regard as unending.
The invention of ethical and political doctrines, which blossomed into our own social sciences, is a product of times when things appeared manageable. The same goes for the criticism of those doctrines, though as a voice from the past, this criticism proved prophetic.
Try not to pay attention to those who will try to make life miserable for you. There will be a lot of those - in the official capacity as well as the self-appointed.
To put it in plain language, Russia is that country where the name of a writer appears not on the cover of his book, but on the door of his prison cell.
'No Sweetness Here' is the kind of old-fashioned social realism I have always been drawn to in fiction, and it does what I think all good literature should: It entertains you.
It really matters to writers to find and treasure readers, all the more when they're on the other side of the world.
Novelists are stamina merchants, grinders, nine-to-fivers, and their career curves follow the usual arc of human endeavour.
Don Quixote β I read that every year, as some do the Bible.
You have started the book with this bubble over your head that contains a cathedral full of fire - that contains a novel so vast and great and penetrating and bright and dark that it will put all other novels ever written to shame. And then, as you get towards the end, you begin to realise, no, it's just this book.
In an age when other fantastically speedy, widespread media are triumphing, and running the risk of flattening all communication onto a single, homogenous surface, the function of literature is communication between things that are different simply because they are different, not blunting but even sharpening the differences between them, following the true bent of written language.
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