Talk:Joseph Brodsky

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[edit] Russian language editions

It seems that Russian-lang 1998 Works and days consists mostly of memoirs of others about Brodsky and and analysis of his writings. After I listed it here and only then briefly looked at its online edition, I'm not sure where exactly it belongs. ←Humus sapiens←ну? 10:45, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Russian or American?

Why is he listed as Russian poet if he was an American citizen? I think saying Russian American would be more correct What do you think? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Northern (talk • contribs) 07:12, 9 May 2007 (UTC).

How about Russian born American? That seems to be the standardization per wp:mosbio. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Threeafterthree (talk • contribs) 16:08, 9 May 2007 (UTC).

• JB is simply a RUSSIAN poet. He wrote mainly in Russian. His place of residence is of litle importance.Galassi 16:49, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

I think Galassi confuses being an English-language poet with being an American poet. The latter does not mean the language, but simply the country of residence. There are, for instance, plenty of Yiddish-language American poets and Brodsky clearly was an American poet. (In addition, I must say he published two books of original essays and at least one collection of original poetry in English, so WHO can judge whether that is or isn't enough to be called American?!)--SimulacrumDP 16:53, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

I plead total ignorance on this but would ask, what nationality did Brodsky have when he did most of his work or become notable? As pointed out above, it isn't about what language he wrote in, ect but his citizenship/nationality. The article says he became a US citizen in 1980, he would have been 40 years old. This is one of those really dicy ones. I know my good friend JackoLantern would probably ask "What do most reliable sources call him? I won't revert/do anything until we can get more eyes involved, thanks! --Tom 18:05, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

He lived in the United States since 1972.--SimulacrumDP 18:12, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Calling JB an American poet is a bit притянуть за уши................. Most of his poetic thinking was done in Russian. So there you have it.Galassi 18:03, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Is that in Russian or Russia?? Again, I'm just trying to figure out how to classify his nationality and not his literary genre. Thanks --Tom 18:08, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Russian has 2 forms to distinguish citizenship from culture, русский & российский. It is not easy то convey in English.Galassi 18:20, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Hi Galassi, thanks and I sort of get what you mean. We still need to figure out how to mention Brodsky's nationality in the LEAD sentence. Did he have US citizenship? Did he maintain Russian citizenship? What do other reliable sources refer to him as? Again, I am not trying to deny his ethnicity or say he is entirely American, but per wp:mosbio, nationality should be mentioned in the lead. Of what citizenship was he when he did his most notable work. Anyways, cheers! --Tom 19:50, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

He was STRIPPED of his Soviet citizenship, was naturalized in the US, was ethnically Jewish, and culturally Russian.Galassi 22:06, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

That's confusing, of course. Yet, not as much as it seems. Brodsky wrote poetry predominantly in Russian (although not exclusively) and he wrote prose mostly in English (although not exclusively). He lived in the US since 1972. He was Russian (language) AND American (residence) author. So, Russian(-language) American author, or Russian and American author both sound fine to me. For the introductory sentence it immediately provides an idea of his linguistic and geographical affiliations...--SimulacrumDP 18:12, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Silesian bias

In unfortunately typical Wikipedia style, the article mentions right in the beginning how "He had an honorary degree of the University of Silesia." This is mentioned before we even know anything about his works or struggle with the Soviet government, possibly because a local Silesian patriot meant to emphasize it. The honorary doctorate from Yale is mentioned much further below, although I would believe that university has an unlike greater reputation (this might be different in the are of Russian-language poetry?). I could not find evidence on the web that Brodsky actually has that honorary degree from Silesia, maybe some Polish speaker can verify this? The degree from Yale is mentioned on [1]. 169.237.10.220 01:02, 6 November 2007 (UTC)