The Son Of Manhattan On MSU Campus

By Anna Laletina

“You Russians, and we, Americans!... so far apart from each other,
so seemingly different and yet... in ways that are most important,
our countries are so alike...”
—Walt Whitman

There are quite a few monuments of prominent people on the campus of Moscow State University. We can find numerous statues of Mikhail Lomonosov, the founder of MSU, as well as monuments of other scientists and writers. But in October 2009, an American citizen arrived at Vorobyovy Gory. The newcomer appeared to be a very tall, bearded man who had a hat in his hand and a smile, hidden under a moustache.

“Walt Whitman, a cosmos, of Manhattan the son” was the stranger. This is how he introduced himself in the middle of the 19th century: “Turbulent, fleshy, sensual, eating, drinking and breeding, no sentimentalist, no stander above men and women or apart from them, no more modest than immodest.” He wrote it in his most famous work – the collection of poetry, “Leaves of Grass.”

The statue of an American poet was the response of the U.S. to a similar gift that Moscow presented to Washington D.C. in 2000. Back then the monument of a great Russian poet, Alexander Pushkin, sculpted by Alexander Burganov, was established near the George Washington University.

The same sculptor created a statue of Whitman. However, it was almost a statue of Mark Twain or Edgar Allan Poe, as they were also on the short list of candidates. At first glance, they seem to be more well-known and beloved in Russia. “But it's as if you were, let's say, choosing between Pushkin and Tolstoy, Pushkin and Gogol. All three American writers, mentioned above, were significant,” said the professor of MSU and American literature specialist, Pavel Balditsyn.

Before the unveiling of his creation, sculptor Burganov told the journalists that Whitman was chosen due to his “universally dimensioned poetry.”

In the Moscow opening ceremony, the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pointed out the likeness of what was happening at the time of the two poets and today. “Just as Pushkin and Whitman “reset” poetry, we are resetting our relationships for the 21st century,” Clinton said.

Resetting poetry was not an instant thing.

“As a poet, Whitman is very, I would say, authentic,” said Yassen Zassoursky, the President of the Faculty of Journalism at MSU who is also known for his passion for American literature. “He changed the poetical concept. The main thing became not formal signs of poetry like rhymes and rhythms, but the thought and the perception of the human world, human cosmos,” Zassoursky said.

“Whitman, to some extent, was a pioneer. What he had done for the world’s poetry is absolutely unusual: he abolished the preceding poetry system with its plain rhymes and images,” Balditsyn said.

However, contemporaries were slow to recognize Whitman. His rough language, celebration of presumably low subjects, description of all the attributes of human sexuality, though done very well poetically, didn't appeal to the general public. That's why Whitman's major work “Leaves of Grass” stirred much criticism at the time of publication in 1855.

“The thing is America is a young country. Americans didn't have a clear understanding of their geniuses at that time. Europeans were first to acknowledge Whitman's style,” Balditsyn said. Whitman's poetic manner proved to have a big impact on the literature of the 20th century. It's not that the poets were imitating Whitman, but they adopted some of his methods and began searching for new ones.

Eventually, Whitman found his place among the most influential poets of American canon and among the greatest poets of the world.

Consequently, his statue found its place among the monuments of prominent people on the MSU campus. “Whitman is a cosmopolitan poet, citizen of the world. Of course he was truly American due to his roots and background, but he strived to overcome national boundaries and to emphasize his belonging to the cosmos and to all humanity,” Zassoursky said. So, Whitman's being on the Russian soil can be easily justified.

Most of the students of the journalistic faculty at MSU should be acquainted with Whitman's poetry, as his “Song of Myself” is in the list of required reading.

In conclusion, Zassoursky suggested that those who have never read Whitman should begin with “Song of Myself” and his famous poem “O captain, my captain” written after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.