Kevin Moss (ed.), Out of the Blue: Russia's Hidden Gay Literature - An Anthology, Gay Sunshine Press, San Francisco, 1997, 415 pages, illustrations.

Ova antologija je izuzetno vredan poduhvat, naročito stoga što je prvi ovakve vrste. Sadrži pripovetke, pesme, odlomke iz romana i dnevnika, pisma itd., 30-tak tridesetak ruskih autora s početka XIX veka pa do kraja XX veka, u prevodu na engleski (od strane 17 prevodica) u engleskom prevodu u kojem je učestvovalo 17 prevodilaca. Uvod Simona Karlinskog (koji je uzgred bio prvi koji se ozbiljnije bavio homoerotikom u ruskoj književnosti i kulturi i o tome počeo da piše sedamsedetih upravo u legendarnom Gay Sunshine časopisu iz San Franciska čiji je izdavač objavio i ovu antologiju) osvetljava rusku kulturno-istorijsku pozadinu, bez koje bi bilo teško shvatiti, recimo, tolerisanje homoerotske tematike i motiva u ruskoj književnosti pre Oktobarske revolucije. Sam priređivač antologije Kevin Moss (pojavljuje se i u ulozi prevodica sa ruskog), profesor na Middlebury College-u (Vermont, USA), jedan je od vodećih istraživača istočnoevropske gej kulture u Americi i poznavalac više slovenskih jezika (studirao je i u Zagrebu 1975-76 god.).

Antologija je hronoški koncipirana i izdeljena na četiri poglavlja. Podela delimično odgovara tradicionalnim književnim periodima, ali se podudara i sa političkim promenama koje su se direktno ticale života gej ljudi, homoerotske književnosti i gej autorefleksije u Rusiji.

Prvi deo: Gej teme u ''Zlatnom dobu'' ruske književnosti (XIX vek), sadrži pesme, pripovetke i odlomke iz dela čuvenih ruskih pisaca - Puškina, Ljermontova, Tolstoja, Gogolja (najmarkatniji primer samopotiskivanja homoerotskih osećanja u ruskoj književnosti), pa sve do Konstantina Leontjeva čije uvrštavanje u antologiju može mnoge lako da iznenadi, budući da se radi o reakcionarnom ideologu i apologeti carističke autokratije, ruskom diplomati na Balkanu (ostavio pronicljive zapise o balkanskim narodima s kraja XIX veka u delu ''Vizantija i Sloveni''), inače je život okončao kao monah.

Drugi deo: Cvetanje gej kulture, prezentuje obilje gej literature u ''Srebrnom dobu'' ruske književnosti, na pocetku XX veka. Intezivan ali i kratak period kojeg obeležavaju Kuzmin, Jesenjin, simbolista Vjačeslav Ivanov, Nikolaj Kljujev. U antologiju su uvršteni i delovi knjige filozofa Rozanova ''Ljudi mesečeve svetlosti. Metafizika hrišćanstva'' sa osnovnom tezom da se ''Metafizika hrišćanstva'' krije i sastoji u činjenici da okosnicu crkve čine ''ljudi mesečeve svetlosti'' što će reći - homoseksualci, počev od samog Hrista i brojnog monaštva koje zauzima najvažnije položaje u crkvi (knjiga je objavljena 1911, u srpskom prevodu se pojavila 2001. god. U izdanju Zepter World Book). Nakon Oktobarske revolucije i ustanovljavanja staljinizma, homoseksualnost se ponovo zakonom zabranjuje (1933. god.) i nastupa period najgoreg progona gej ljudi u Rusiji i u kom više nije bilo mogućnosti za objavljivanje književnosti sa gej tematikom, sem u pokojem 'samizdatu'.

Treći deo: Skriveni od pogleda, period mučne i riskantne ilegale, ali ipak ne i bez književnih svedočanstava. Obeležava ga ponajviše Jevgenij Haritonov, pisac, režiser, koreograf, covek izuzetno zanimljivog i teškog života dvostrukog disidenta, koji je svojih prvih 15 minuta književne slave doživeo tek 12 godina nakon svoje smrti, 1993. god. kada mu je objavljen rukopis ''U kućnom pritvoru'' koji je postao i ubrzo postaje književni događaj godine u Rusiji. Za ovaj period je važan i Genadij Trifonov, koji je uspevao da svoje (homoerotske) spise proturi na Zapad, što ipak nije prošlo neopaženo od strane KGB-a pa je Trifonov proveo 4 godine u zatvoru.

Četvrti deo: Ponovno rađanje Gay Life-a gej života. Počev od perioda perestrojke, ruski ''social landscape'' društveni pejsaž se rapidno menja. Ovaj period karakteriše obilje materijala iz prvih gej publikacija - priče, pesme, pisma. Izdvajaju se iskusni pisci Vladimir Makanjin i Vasilij Aksionov. Eduard Limonov srećom nije uvršten.

Sadržaj/ Contents:

Editor's Preface
Kevin Moss

Publisher's Note
Winston Leyland

Introduction: Russia's Gay Literature and History
Simon Karlinsky

1. GAY THEMES IN GOLDEN AGE LITERATURE (19th Century)

Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837)
Poem: Imitation of the Arabic
Translated by Michael Green

A Pushkin Puzzle
Essay by Michael Green

Mikhail Lermontov (1814-1841)
Poem:Ode to the John
Poem:To Tiesenhausen
Translated by Vitaly Chernetsky

Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852)
Nights at the Villa
Translated with commentary by Simon Karlinsky

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)
The Ivins-Selections from Childhood
Pages from Tolstoy's Diaries
Translated by Kevin Moss

Konstantin Leontiev (1831-1891)
Khamid and Manoli (story)
Translated by Gerald McCausland

II. THE FIRST FLOWERING OF GAY CULTURE (Early 20th Century)

Mikhail Kuzmin (1872-1936)
Aunt Sonya's Sofa (story)
Virginal Victor: A Byzantine Tale (story)
A Summer Affair (Cycle of 12 poems)
A Story Interrupted (Cycle of 10 poems)
Three Poems from Alexandrian Songs
All stories/poems translated by Michael Green

Mikhail Kuzmin: Past and Present
Mikhail Kuzmin's Diaries-A Foretaste
Two Essays by Michael Green

Fyodor Sologub (1863-1927)
The Petty Demon (Selections from the novel)
Translated by S. D. Cioran

Vyacheslav Ivanov (1866-1949)
Two Poems
Translated by Vitaly Chernelsky

Vasily Rozanov (1856-1919)
People of the Moonlight (Selections)
Translated by Spencer E. Roberts

Nikolai Klyuev (1887-1937)
Two Poems
Translated by Simon Karlinsky

Sergei Esenin (1895-1925)
Four Poems
Translated by Vitaly Chernetsky

III. HIDDEN FROM VIEW UNDER THE SOVIETS: UNDERGROUND AND EMIGRE LITERATURE (1920-1980)

Ryurik Ivnev (1891-1981)
Selections from Ivnev's Diaries
Translated by Michael Molnar
Poem: "Who Will Comprehend These Feelings."
Translated by Vitaly Chernetsky

Anatoly Steiger (1907-1981)
Ten Poems
Translated by Paul Schmidt

Georgy Ivanov (1894-1958)
The Third Rome (Selections from the novel)
Translated by Vitaly Chernetsky

Valery Pereleshin [pseud.] (1913-1992)
Three Poems
Three Sonnets from Ariel
Translated by Simon Karlinsky
Twelve Sonnets from Ariel
Translated by Vitaly Chernetsky

Yevgeny Kharitonov (1941-1981)
Four Stories:
The Oven
One Boy's Story: How I Got Like That
Alyosha-Seryozha
The Leaflet
All translated by Kevin Moss

Gennady Trifonov (b. 1945)
Poem: Letter from Prison
Three Poems from Tbilisi by Candlelight
Translated by Simon Karlinsky
Open Letter to Literaturnaya Gazeta
Translated by Kevin Moss

IV. GAY LIFE REBORN IN THE NEW RUSSIA (1990-)

[Anonymous ]
Letters to the Editor of Tema and 1/10
Translated by Kevin Moss

V. K. and Nikolai Serov
Letters About Prison Life
Translated by Dan Healey

Vladimir Makanin (b. 1937)
The Prisoner of the Caucasus (story)
Translated by Anatoly Vishevsky and Michael Biggins

Vassily Aksyonov (b. 1932)
Around Dupont (story)
Translated by Alla Zbinovsky

Yury Past (b. 1954)
No Offense in Love (story)
Translated by Diane Nemec, Ignashev

Nikolai Kolyada (b. 1957)
Slingshot (play)
Translated by Susan Larsen

Sergei Rybikov (b. 1962)
Lays of the Gay Slavs
Translated by Anatoly Vishevsky and Michael Biggins

Dmitry Gubin (b. 1967)
Three Poems
Translated by J. Kates

Dmitry Kuz'min (b. 1968)
Two Poems
Translated by Vitaly Chernetsky

Gennady Trifonov (b. 1945)
Two Ballets by George Balanchine (Selections from the novella)
Translated by Michael Molnar

Efim Yeliseev [pseud.] (b. 1940s)
The Bench (story)
Translated by Anthony Vanchu

Vitaly Yasinsky [Pseud.] (b. 1946)
A Sunny Day at the Seaside (story)
Translated by Anthony Vanchu

K. E. [pseud.] (b. 1962)
The Phone Call (story)
Translated by Anthony Vanchu

Yaroslav Mogutin (b. 1974)
The Death of Misha Beautiful
Poem: The Army Elegy
Translated by Vitaly Chernetsky

Dimitri Bushuev (b. 1969)
Poem: "The night will burst with hail, and the rain"
Echoes of Harlequin (Selections from the novel)
Translated by Vitaly Chernetsky

Linkovi:

Home page Kevina Mossa:
http://community.middlebury.edu/~moss/index.html

Leyland Publications i Gay Sunshine:
http://www.gaysunshine.com/gsnonfiction.html

Priredio: Nicodemus