Russian literature idolized the theme of the steppe. It started with Pushkin and continued through modern literature. It is a theme of Freedom, Mother Russia, History, and even Philosophical Loneliness. Gogol sang his song to the steppe in Taras Bul'ba and Chekhov in his famous Steppe about the grandeur of the steppe. People created their folklore about the steppe, tragic and beautiful: Steppe and steppe is around./ My road is faraway,/ In that deaf steppe/ A coachman was dying. Many painters devoted their art to the steppe, also, as you showed in your essay.
In the sense of the agriculture, the steppe lands in Russia have always been considered as fertile and Khruschev masterd the virgin lands of the Kazachstan steppe, sending there a thousands of young people for developing them for wheat and rye.
I grew up in the steppe, a part of my childhood anyway. I remember the vastness, the amazing night skies, and horrendous roads in the spring and fall. Also, the cold. Great post.
Beautiful! A game i love, reverse 1999 recently had an update centered around Igor, a war general who fought in the steppes, his whole story is centered around the beautiful grasslands. This post really made me appreciate his character all the more!
I really like it, Mikey. Poetic prose feels like a way I could learn … there’s a lovely literary flow to your words that wouldn’t be out of place in a richly drawn historical fiction; history imagined back to life, vivid, a trigger for the imagination. Nice work. And the length is perfect … too long and there’s too much to take in; shorter and it wouldn’t offer all the hooks you’ve left to hang future work on. More of this, please. ~Barrie
Having grown up reading Russian children’s books in 80’s India, the vastness of the steppe conjures deep desolation, romance and nostalgia for a place that I have never seen. This post and the accompanying art instantly made me visit that part of my inner world. Thank you.
Russian literature idolized the theme of the steppe. It started with Pushkin and continued through modern literature. It is a theme of Freedom, Mother Russia, History, and even Philosophical Loneliness. Gogol sang his song to the steppe in Taras Bul'ba and Chekhov in his famous Steppe about the grandeur of the steppe. People created their folklore about the steppe, tragic and beautiful: Steppe and steppe is around./ My road is faraway,/ In that deaf steppe/ A coachman was dying. Many painters devoted their art to the steppe, also, as you showed in your essay.
In the sense of the agriculture, the steppe lands in Russia have always been considered as fertile and Khruschev masterd the virgin lands of the Kazachstan steppe, sending there a thousands of young people for developing them for wheat and rye.
Thank you, M. E. Rothwell.
I grew up in the steppe, a part of my childhood anyway. I remember the vastness, the amazing night skies, and horrendous roads in the spring and fall. Also, the cold. Great post.
Excellent article, looking forward to more
Beautiful! A game i love, reverse 1999 recently had an update centered around Igor, a war general who fought in the steppes, his whole story is centered around the beautiful grasslands. This post really made me appreciate his character all the more!
I really like it, Mikey. Poetic prose feels like a way I could learn … there’s a lovely literary flow to your words that wouldn’t be out of place in a richly drawn historical fiction; history imagined back to life, vivid, a trigger for the imagination. Nice work. And the length is perfect … too long and there’s too much to take in; shorter and it wouldn’t offer all the hooks you’ve left to hang future work on. More of this, please. ~Barrie
I love this subject and am looking forward to your next post about it. Thank you.
Having grown up reading Russian children’s books in 80’s India, the vastness of the steppe conjures deep desolation, romance and nostalgia for a place that I have never seen. This post and the accompanying art instantly made me visit that part of my inner world. Thank you.