Chekhov Short Stories

[raiezza06]

Hey for all those people doing Chekhov for exam or the practice passage analysis SAC just though i might start something where we can talk about the stories because there is minimal information on the web...so i thought this might be helpful.

I have a question about Ionych in relation to the scene where he's at the cemetery. I had to analyse the passage in class today and couldn't find the meaning of the Demetti statue?

[VivaTequila]

Learn Cyrillic and read the stories in Russian!

It would suck to be studying a Russian text for lit seriously. I did it for 1&2 lit and came out on top, because I could just ask my Russian mum because she did a major on it in Uni.

You're in a tough position for the exam because you need to learn heaps of the background...

I know tons of Russian history as a result of the Emancipation of the Serfs etc. with relevance to the Cherry Orchard. Try and learn more about the context of Russia at the time - ask your Revolutions friends that have studied it, and hopefully they'll help you out.

[Russ]

You're in a tough position for the exam because you need to learn heaps of the background...

Yeah, this. Chekhov especially has a tendency to write about contemporary events. I've only read a few of his short stories but they were all like that. Probably worth tracking down some online articles about his writings to get some background events you can further google

[raiezza06]

Well I'm studying Russian revolution at school so I do have a bit of background with it is there any particular events that i should be familiar with apart from the emancipation? And should i bring context into my analysis?

[Readinya]

I did Chekov for my exam last year. Loved his work. Even though i didn't do Russian Revolution or have a Russian mum, i spent hours researching his background, contemporary Russia, reading documents/reports/essays on his style of writing compared to other styles, etc. So this research put me in a pretty good perspective about what his stories may have been about. Of course, his writing is subjective and concise, so you can't help but wonder if there's always more to what he's writing on the surface.

Anyway, it's good to include a little bit of the history of Russia; but be aware that Chekov wrote in a time just before the Revolution, so focus much more on the understated social tensions between the common people, especially. Make sure that in your inclusion of the Russia's history that you don't recount what happened historically - instead, put it in perspective of his stories and how this 'calm before the storm' affected his characters. In particular, i noticed that many of his characters didn't seem too have much energy or enthusiasm for life: dull, resigned, ineffectual. But here's the question that you have to ask: why did Chekov write about these boring people and their boring lives?

Also, attached is just some notes that i gathered from the interwebs after countless hours of research. Enjoy!

[VivaTequila]

gooseberries? the temptation to click that transcends my willpower

edit: massive let down 

[Readinya]

gooseberries? the temptation to click that transcends my willpower

edit: massive let down 

Haha..?

[raiezza06]

I did Chekov for my exam last year. Loved his work. Even though i didn't do Russian Revolution or have a Russian mum, i spent hours researching his background, contemporary Russia, reading documents/reports/essays on his style of writing compared to other styles, etc. So this research put me in a pretty good perspective about what his stories may have been about. Of course, his writing is subjective and concise, so you can't help but wonder if there's always more to what he's writing on the surface.

Anyway, it's good to include a little bit of the history of Russia; but be aware that Chekov wrote in a time just before the Revolution, so focus much more on the understated social tensions between the common people, especially. Make sure that in your inclusion of the Russia's history that you don't recount what happened historically - instead, put it in perspective of his stories and how this 'calm before the storm' affected his characters. In particular, i noticed that many of his characters didn't seem too have much energy or enthusiasm for life: dull, resigned, ineffectual. But here's the question that you have to ask: why did Chekov write about these boring people and their boring lives?

Also, attached is just some notes that i gathered from the interwebs after countless hours of research. Enjoy!

thanks so much for the notes! It's so hard to find info on Chekhov's short stories