The Uncensored Boris Godunov: The Case for Pushkin's Original Comedy, with Annotated Text and Translation (Publications of the Wisconsin Center for Pushkin Studies)

Persuasively argues for including the original, 1825 version of the play Boris Godunov (later eclipsed by the politically correct edition) in the canon of Pushkin's works. Includes the 1825 Russian text and the only English translation of that version. Boris Godunov has long puzzled readers both Russian and non-Russian. The authors of this study suggest why: because the later version of Boris Godunov came into being not through a process of the writer's own artistic maturation, as is generally assumed, but rather as the result of censorship and "political correctness" in the wake of the Decembrist Rebellion of 1825. Pushkin conceived and wrote this "historical tragedy" for stage performance, but his study of the first popular challenge to the Russian throne proved politically impossible for the theater. Six years later he reshaped the work for publication, putting a different complexion on it. Chester Dunning and his colleagues challenge the canonicity of the published 1831 version of the work, which has long displaced the original 1825 text, to argue in favor of treating the latter, with its sharper, richer dramatic impact, as the version that should be studied, performed, and celebrated.In addition to essays on the historical, biographical, and literary context of Pushkin's play, this book includes both the original Russian text and, for the first time, a rhythmically accurate and superbly performable English translation of that version. Readers familiar with Boris Godunov will find-in addition to scenes and dialogue omitted from the so-called canonical text-several words and phrases not found in previous editions. Detailed endnotes explain the numerous historical references and demonstrate the re-markable historical accuracy of the original version of Pushkin's daring drama set in early modern Russia's darkest hour, the Time of Troubles (1598-1613). Persuasively argues for including the original, 1825 version of the play Boris Godunov (later eclipsed by the "politically correct" edition) in the canon of Pushkin's works " The Uncensored Boris Godunov is a work of vivid and meticulous scholarly excavation which invites a radical reconsideration of the established Pushkin canon. . . . A collective of distinguished American and Russian researchers leads us back through the vagaries of the play's reception towards a long-buried but still glowing literary-historical treasure: the original version of Pushkin's Comedy about Tsar Boris and Grishka Otrepiev (1825), transcribed by Sergei Fomichev from the poet's manuscript, and translated into free-moving blank verse with brilliance and discerning fidelity by Antony Wood."Rachel Polonsky, Times Literary Supplement "Boris Godunov is the most fascinating and problematic of all Pushkin's texts. The story of The Uncensored Boris Godunov is really a kind of detective novel: why the earlier draft has not been preferred by Pushkin scholars, why perhaps it should be, and how history proper and literary history in particular have clouded the issue of what could have been the definitive text."David M. Bethea, Vilas Research Professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of WisconsinMadison Frontmatter List of Illustrations (page ix) Preface to the First Edition (page xi) Prefaces to the Paperback Edition (page xv) Acknowledgments (page xxv) Introduction: Reconsidering History and Expanding the Canon (CARYL EMERSON AND CHESTER DUNNING, page 3) 1 The Problem of Boris Godunov: A Review of Interpretations and the So-Called Canonical Text (CHESTER DUNNING, page 25) 2 The Exiled Poet-Historian and the Creation of His Comedy (CHESTER DUNNING, page 51) 3 The Tragic Fate of Pushkin's Comedy (CHESTER DUNNING, page 94) 4 The World of Laughter in Pushkin's Comedy (SERGEI FOMICHEV, page 136) 5 Tragedy, Comedy, Carnival, and History on Stage (CARYL EMERSON, page 157) 6 The Ebb and Flow of Influence: Muffling the Comedic in the Move toward Print (CARYL EMERSON, page 192) Concluding Remarks: Boris Godunov and the Russian Literary Canon (CARYL EMERSON AND CHESTER DUNNING, page 233) Translator's Preface (ANTONY WOOD, page 239) Komediia a tsare Borise i o Grishke Ottrep'eve (page 246) Comedy about Tsar Boris and Grishka Otrepiev (TRANSLATED BY ANTONY WOOD, page 247) Notes to Pushkin's Comedy (CHESTER DUNNING WITH LIDIA LOTMAN AND ANTONY WOOD, page 454) Bibliography (page 511) Index (page 535) Reconsidering History And Expanding The Canon / Caryl Emerson And Chester Dunning -- The Problem Of Boris Godunov : A Review Of Interpretations And The So-called Canonical Text / Chester Dunning -- The Exiled Poet-historian And The Creation Of His Comedy / Chester Dunning -- The Tragic Fate Of Pushkin's Comedy / Chester Dunning -- The World Of Laughter In Pushkin's Comedy / Sergei Fomichev -- Tragedy, Comedy, Carnival, And History On Stage / Caryl Emerson -- The Ebb And Flow Of Influence : Muffling The Comedic In The Move Toward Print / Caryl Emerson -- Boris Godunov And The Russian Literary Canon / Caryl Emerson And Chester Dunning. Chester Dunning ; With Caryl Emerson ... [et Al.]. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 511-534) And Index. Includes the original Russian text and, for the first time, an English translation of that version. “Antony Wood's translation is fluent and idiomatic; analyses by Dunning et al. are incisive; and the ‘case'they make is skillfully argued.... Highly recommended.”—Choice