French Literature

TEACHER INTERVIEW

By Stephen Wilson

 

Second City Teachers spoke to 61 year old Russian French teacher Larisa about the profound importance of Literature and Education. She adores books! Her one regret is that during the 1990's she did not realize her ambition to open up a new bookshop. Larisa told me about how angry she was when her daughter whose essay in Russian was spotless was awarded a four instead of five {because a prejudiced Russian school teacher thought it was impossible for someone who had lived in Armenia to write in spotless Russian.} 

She told me of how once her daughter when just nine was subject to racial abuse on the streets of Moscow because she looked Jewish. Larisa believes that such prejudice is not so widespread in England as in Russia and comes across as an Anglophile when she speaks about English literature and culture. Her daughter currently lives in England working as a film director. Larisa touches on how reading literature can predict some future events. I was reminded of how the German Professor Jurgen Wertheimer had claimed that a careful study of literature could predict and may be prevent the outbreak of future wars. The German state even funded his 'Cassandra project ' to undertake such research into how a reading of literature might anticipate future historical events such as war and promptly prevent the danger.

 

Second City Teachers

 

Why should people study literature? In Britain many people see a degree in English literature as either worthless, or a joke!

 

Larisa

 

I think reading literature is like going on holiday or travelling abroad. It can also be like an adventure. In the Soviet Union we couldn't go abroad and were unable to get experience of life in other Worlds and cultures. So learning about literature opened up a new world for us. Since the borders were closed it was the only way we could know about different people abroad. You can also learn from life experiences which are reflected in literature. What happens in literature, whether it is Homer, Shakespeare or Dickens happens again in real life  even to your own children. Because I once told my daughter that certain future events would happen and they happened my daughter called me a witch. But I am not a witch. I simply read a lot about literature which by reading you can anticipate the future events which people will experience. For example, take Shakespeare's play Othello. In this play when Othello learns that his wife deceived her parents about their own relationship Othello no longer believes his wife when she later is falsely accused of having  an affair with another man. This can happen in real life.

A study of literature opens up a colorful world in contrast to our own black and white world at home.

Literature can also improve and expand your vocabulary.

But reading literature is such a joy. It is like having a rest. I love the writer Thomas Mayne Reid. I have all his works and I enjoyed how his characters made a fire using glass to capture the sun's heat or how they use a compass to establish their position. Have you heard of this author?

 

Second City Teachers

 

To be honest I have never heard of this author.

 

Larisa

 

I heard that the Russian writer Nabokov, while living in England, also discovered that many of the English had not read the works he had read or even heard of the authors. For me Reid writes about experiences in an entirely realistic and convincing way.

 

Second City Teachers

 

Can literature change and improve people?

 

Larisa

 

I don't think it can change the character of people. After watching a great performance at the theater it might momentarily change their mood for ten minutes. But after a short period their old moods return and they are their old selves again.

 

Second City Teachers

 

Is it possible for foreigners to understand the humor in some works of literature?

 

Larisa

 

I don't understand the humor in William Shakespeare or Dickens. I think we have lost this sense of humor because we have lost the historical context of those jokes. At the time, in their era they could see the connection, but we can't. I liked Charlie Chaplin and found him funny and tried to drag my brother to watch him so he could share the joy. If you haven't lived through the experience of those who had made the jokes it might not make any sense.

 

Second City Teachers

 

Do you have strong views about how parents are bringing up children?

 

Larisa

 

I have heard of some stupid advice about how parents are advised, by some psychologists about whether to get children to do their homework or not. Psychologists have advised parents not to confront or make sure their children do their homework because it leads to confrontation with very negative results. I think that this will harm the education of children. They apparently seem afraid of losing the love of their children.

 

Second City Teachers

 

What do you think of the poem 'Wait for me' by Konstantin Simonov which tells of the soldier's hope that his wife won't betray him while he is at the front and that should she do this he will die. Don't you think Simonov's poem is just unrealistic in terms of the high expectations placed in having a perfect wife?

 

Larisa

 

Some foreigners who read this poem think the lines are banal, but they fail to understand the context in which this poem was written. The author Simonov was serving at the front when he fell in love with a Russian actress Valentina Serova. But this actress was not at first in love with him, but rather a famous Russian General Rokossovsky. He wanted to divorce his wife to live with Serova. But Stalin would not allow him to do this. Serova was heart broken by all this. Although she later married Simonov, she was not happy with him. I think she became an alcoholic because of this. So the background to this poem is very tragic.