Russia had its own domestic slaves, the peasants. They were not allowed to leave their land and could pretty much be legally killed at any time by the nobility. As a result, there were pretty much NO Africans in Russia up through World War II. After the war, with the spread of international communism, the Patrice Lumumba International Friendship University was founded and hosted a number of African students, but the numbers were still small.
As a result, Africans are still the object of race-based attacks (though they suffer perhaps less than people who live in greater numbers in Russia such as Azeris, Tajiks and Uzbeks). Civil Rights? Seriously? You even asked?
As a result, Africans are still the object of race-based attacks (though they suffer perhaps less than people who live in greater numbers in Russia such as Azeris, Tajiks and Uzbeks). Civil Rights? Seriously? You even asked?
Yes, I asked. And see? It's always nice to learn something in the morning.
I know a bit about the peasant situation (family lived in Russia from something like 1760-1912), as well as the ethnic/cultural/etc groups. Even though I know it was nothing like the Americas, I didn't know anything about whether black slaves had ever been utilized. And they are spoken of as slaves at the ball, so I wasn't sure whether that was a Russian thing or not.
This message last edited by nossy on 28/07/2010 at 03:00:48 PM
The Joint Book Club: Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita
15/07/2010 08:36:47 AM
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Things you liked
15/07/2010 08:37:57 AM
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The Passion interludes and Margarita's witchification and night flight.
23/07/2010 11:19:59 PM
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Things you didn't like
15/07/2010 08:38:20 AM
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Things that didn't make sense to you
15/07/2010 08:38:54 AM
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The murder of Judas.
23/07/2010 11:13:58 PM
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Does it make more sense if Aphranius is seen as...
26/07/2010 12:39:46 AM
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See, that seemed obvious to me.
28/07/2010 02:55:02 AM
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Oh, so that was them making up a story to tell anyone else if needed? *NM*
28/07/2010 08:29:10 AM
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The walls have ears. Nobody would know that better than Aphranius and Pilate.
31/07/2010 07:32:09 PM
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Also, who was Koroviev supposed to be?
23/07/2010 11:44:28 PM
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Characters (ordinary)
15/07/2010 08:39:53 AM
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Characters (supernatural)
15/07/2010 08:40:36 AM
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Behemoth was hilarious. I love the idea of him being a large mischievous cat.
23/07/2010 11:22:01 PM
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I'm reserving a spot for my comments but not posting them just yet.
15/07/2010 03:46:34 PM
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I had a very interesting conversation about the novel yesterday.
16/07/2010 02:44:53 PM
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Re: I had a very interesting conversation about the novel yesterday.
21/07/2010 12:22:28 PM
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I haven't collected my thoughts on the experience of reading the novel yet, but I wanted to share...
16/07/2010 02:50:03 PM
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My thoughts
20/07/2010 04:50:06 AM
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Does this story translate well?
20/07/2010 06:27:50 PM
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About evil in this book.
21/07/2010 07:14:59 PM
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There is a Russian author who believes Margarita was Gorky's girlfriend.
22/07/2010 03:15:13 AM
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Aha. There's the question I was going to ask:
31/07/2010 10:32:17 PM
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To the devil with this. I don't care if I am showing my ignorance.
31/07/2010 10:52:54 PM
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Any time you have a dual story, the invitation to draw parallels exists.
10/08/2010 05:56:23 PM
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For all the expressed interest, this book club discussion is languishing. *NM*
21/07/2010 02:07:23 AM
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An anniversary, a birthday, and a successful job interview do tend to slow me down somewhat
21/07/2010 02:08:10 PM
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Vacation and all the stuff associated with it. Will try to write something, but it might be a while. *NM*
23/07/2010 02:03:57 AM
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Give me a day or two to catch up on things and finish the book. *NM*
24/07/2010 11:14:17 PM
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Names.
21/07/2010 07:16:23 PM
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They're not common.
22/07/2010 03:08:55 AM
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The Damnation of Faust has been steadily moving up on my list of books to read. So many
26/07/2010 05:42:41 PM
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Why do you think Bulgakov chose to wait so long before introducing us to Margarita?
24/07/2010 12:05:59 AM
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Have any of you heard of The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia?
25/07/2010 09:01:30 PM
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Unfortunately do to my eye surgery I could not participate.
28/07/2010 12:36:28 AM
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I "read" it in audiobook form, in the car and on the move.
29/07/2010 02:55:50 PM
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I wonder if having the words in front would have helped Ivanovich's dream make (more) sense.
29/07/2010 10:37:27 PM
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I've finished.
28/07/2010 02:39:57 AM
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I am about 2/3 of the way through the book and it sounds like my feelings on almost all of it are
28/07/2010 05:48:07 AM
- 859 Views
Civil Rights? You do realize that Russia never imported slaves, right?
28/07/2010 01:52:12 PM
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I thought that was so.
28/07/2010 02:53:21 PM
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It felt like two different books.One part I felt like I was wading through a meaningless fluff.
31/07/2010 10:45:52 PM
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