Vanya Bagaev's Blog, page 2

Was or Wasn't, Would've or Wouldn't've Been

Our heroine had a brother, it seems. If she had, then long ago he must have ceased to be, so long ago that she didn't remember this event, and if he never was at all, then it means long ago she must have invented him for herself, so long ago that she didn't remember this event either. From those distant times, however eventful they might have been — first words, first phone call, first steps, first time staying home alone and so forth — she remembered nothing at all, especially not this brother,...

Soul Epidemic

Our heroine heard from the telly that a soul epidemic had begun in the world. Out of the nowhere, people had acquired souls, and nobody knew what to do with them, what the consequences would be, whom to write to and where to complain, and what this "soul" thing even was. Sounds rather pompous, one must say.

— Today, on one of these August days, you are something more than merely human, — the telly said even more pompously, placed a hand on its heart, heaved a deep sigh, bowed, and walked off, as ...

How I Spent My Summer (essay)

I'd like to argue, Tamara Alekseevna, that summer isn't really summer at all, but "holidays", because that's what I actually spent, whilst summer itself just passed by like autumn will pass, and winter, and spring, and then summer again. Whoosh and it's gone! Here you'd argue that one can't write "whoosh" in an essay, and I'd parry — yes I can, I've just written it, haven't I, and you'd parry back and give me an F or even fail me completely or throw me out of class altogether without finishing r...

On and of erotic undercurrents of Infinity

It's all flowery and summery and there's romance and weird abstractions and their alarming consequences; I'd call it a poem even, or "suprapoem", whatever that unfolds into. If that’s not a hook, I don’t know what is (perhaps this 🪝). Enjoy at your own risk!

Like two passionate lovers, humans and Infinity practise tantric sex with each other. The practice goes back aeons and since then has transformed many times as soon as it became boring, either when another infinity was conquered or when the p...

James Joyce and the cinema of the future

Epochs ago, in Part I (linked below — and you’re free to make it part II for yourself), I shared Eisenstein’s memoir about his meetings with James Joyce in Paris and some extra details on the Roaring Twenties:

In part II today, I want to turn to Eisenstein's theoretical reflections on Joyce’s work, particularly stream-of-consciousness, or rather “internal monologue”, and how it influenced Eisenstein’s approach to cinema, concepts of montage, and possibilities of sound film. That said, cross-polli...

A Brief History of Russian Culture

Pushkin was exiled

Lermontov was exiled

Dostoevsky was sentenced to death, pitied, exiled

Tolstoy was excommunicated from church

Chernyshevsky was jailed and exiled

Radishchev — exiled

Chaadaev — officially declared insane

Mayakovsky shot himself

Yesenin was hanged, by himself or not

Bunin left the country

Nijinsky left the country

Teffi emigrated

Merezhkovsky emigrated

Gippius emigrated

Kuprin lived in exile

Galich was persecuted, then emigrated

Berdyaev emigrated

The entire ship of the s...

Word salad, with nettle leaves and rakes

Touching of Grass, also known as La Tocca dell'Erba

Everyone steps on the very same rakes, because they love to learn and make mistakes themselves. Learning from others’ mistakes — boring. Others’ mistakes you can only admire, and laugh at like first-rate jokes. You can sculpt a meme or craft a whole book about where the rakes lie and how to find or avoid them, attach maps with a legend and secret paths, supply with footnotes, supplementary materials, a sequel. Perception, however, is deceptive —...

Causal realism, or should you eat your pet?

Upstream from:

The famous "where do you draw the line?" meme is surprisingly versatile in the range of things to which it can be applied. The original appearance of the meme is photo of a billboard showcasing various domestic animals: cats, dogs, rabbits, horses, chickens, cows, pigs, ducks, et merda that's supposed to make a point about veganism, poignantly saying "All animals want to live... Where do you draw the line?" with a supportive visual pet⟷food spectrum. Knowingly, though sometimes ste...

Causal Realism

Upstream from:

The famous "where do you draw the line?" meme is surprisingly versatile in the range of things to which it can be applied. The original appearance of the meme is photo of a billboard showcasing various domestic animals: cats, dogs, rabbits, horses, chickens, cows, pigs, ducks, et merda that's supposed to make a point about veganism, poignantly saying "All animals want to live... Where do you draw the line?" with a supportive visual pet⟷food spectrum. Knowingly, though sometimes ste...

The Void Between Us

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published "You can't see anything with your metaphorical cataracts. Your blindness is your bliss."

Random chats with my Russian family over the phone, including Happy Birthday or Happy New Year talks, often detour into political area every time "When will we see you again?" is brought up because the answer is always the same and can't be apolitical. I smoothed it over those t...