Word: okudzhava
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...failure at this stage is to misperceive its nature. At best, it is the beginning of a protracted and massive undertaking that could take a generation or more. "During the past 70 years, a new man has been created who is obedient and easily frightened," says the poet Bulat Okudzhava, a veteran Soviet-reform advocate. "What has been created over decades cannot be undone in a day." Energizing an empire of 285 million people and turning it into a modern economy ranks among the most daunting tasks of modern times, as audacious as Deng Xiaoping's Four Modernizations or Franklin...
Poet Bulat Okudzhava, one of a handful of artists whose works captured the spirit of the first post-Stalinist era of reform, wonders about the aftereffects of the long period of stagnation. "The 'thaw' generation is tired and burned out," he says. "But the next generation is simply not prepared to carry on the reforms." Filmmaker Elem Klimov, the head of the Cinema Workers' Union, admits that the transition has been difficult, like "struggling to break down a wall, only to confront yourself on the other side." Says he: "For so long we have said, 'Give us our freedom...
...subconscious and myth. Others have followed a completely different path, setting art aside to take up journalism, history and politics. The diversity, even the confusion, has been welcomed after decades of conformity. "We need time to get over our feeling of shock and process all this new information," says Okudzhava. "The masterpieces will come later. Now we must editorialize, speak out, make our confession and repent." And perhaps weep, like the audiences at Journey into the Whirlwind...
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