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Robert ChandlerÌýÌýwill give a talk on 'Censorship - And Eloquent Silences - In Vasily Grossman’s For A Just Cause' at this seminar organised by the ÐÂÏã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûSSEES Russian Studies Seminar Series.

It is not generallyÌýrecognized that the novel first published in 1952 under the titleÌýForÌýa JustÌýCauseÌýand the novel first published in Lausanne in 1980 under the titleÌýLifeÌýandÌýFateÌýare, in reality, two halves of a dilogy.ÌýÌýThe characters are largely the sameÌýand so isÌýthe story line; the second novel picks up where the first novel ends, in lateÌýSeptember 1942.ÌýÌýThe one importantÌýdifference is that, in the later novel GrossmanÌýwrites openly and directlyÌýabout questions that, in the earlier novel, he was only ableÌýto hint at.

Between 1952 andÌýGrossman’s death in 1964 there were six different editions ofÌýFor aÌýJustÌýCause.ÌýÌýSeveral of these incorporateÌýchanges, sometimes the addition of entireÌýchapters.ÌýÌýThese changes can give us a clear idea ofÌýwhich aspects of the novel mostÌýperturbed editors and censors.ÌýÌýOften Grossman’s editors seem to have been concerned more with tone than with content.ÌýÌýEvenÌýthe heavily censored 1952 edition contains clearÌýand extended references to military defeats, and toÌýthe Nazi-Soviet pact, while frivolous jokes by a Red ArmyÌýofficer at a momentÌýof crisis seems to have been judged unacceptable even many yearsÌýlater.Ìý

One of Grossman’sÌýmost remarkable feats in this novel is to make posititive use of the tabooÌýagainst extended discussion of the Shoah.ÌýÌýThe text of the last letter written fromÌýthe Berdichev ghetto by AnnaÌýSemyonovna (Viktor Shtrum’s mother) is not includedÌýin this novel, yet it isÌýmentioned a great many times.ÌýÌýGrossmanÌýtells us in detailÌýhow the letter reaches Viktor Shtrum.ÌýÌýHe describes the difficulty ViktorÌýexperiencesÌýin taking it in and his total inability to talk about the letter to anyone.ÌýÌýThe absence of AnnaÌýSemyonovna’s own words isÌýextraordinarily eloquent. Ìý

Robert Chandler bio:ÌýRobertÌýChandler's translations from Russian includeÌýmany works by Vasily Grossman and Andrey Platonov.ÌýHe has also compiled three anthologies for PenguinÌýClassics: of Russian short stories, of Russian magic tales and, with Boris Dralyuk and Irina Mashinski,ÌýThe Penguin Book of Russian Poetry. He is a co-translator of three volumes of memoirs and stories by Teffi. ÌýHis short biography of Alexander Pushkin was recently republished by Pushkin Press. ÌýTeaching is increasingly important to him, and he runs a monthly translationÌýworkshop at Pushkin House (London).Ìý

All Welcome to attend, no registration necessary.

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