Sochi’s Abecedary
I just got around to watching the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics last night, and I was of course struck by the choreography (even if only four of the rings unfolded). I was particularly interested in the striking film of the character of the little girl Любовь/Lyubov (“Love”) working through a Cyrillic abecedary (now conveniently archived at Wikipedia). Here it is:
|
Letter |
English |
Russian |
Category |
| А | ABCs | Азбука | general |
| Б | [Lake] Baikal | Байкал | geography |
| В | [Igor] Sikorsky’s helicopter [also associated with US] | Вертолёт Сикорского | aviation and space technology |
| Г | [Yuri] Gagarin [first human in space] | Гагарин | aviation and space technology |
| Г | Gzhel [pottery] | Гжель | folk culture |
| Д | [Fyodor] Dostoyevsky | Достоевский | literature |
| Е | Catherine the Great | Екатерина II | history |
| Ё | [Animated Film] “Hedgehog in the Fog” | Ёжик в тумане | cinema |
| Ж | [Aerodynamicist Nikolay] Zhukovsky | Жуковский | aviation and space technology |
| З | Corn mowing machine | Зерноуборочная машина | technology |
| И | Empire | Империя | history |
| Й | [Pyotr Ilyich] Tchaikovsky | Чайковский | music |
| К | [Wassily] Kandinsky | Кандинский | painting |
| Л | Lunokhod [lunar rover robots] |
Луноход |
aviation and space technology |
| М | [Kazimir] Malevich | Малевич | painting |
| Н | [Vladimir] Nabokov [also associated with US] | Набоков | literature |
| О | [International] space station |
Орбитальная станция |
aviation and space technology |
| П | [Dmitri Mendeleev’s] periodic table | Периодическая таблица | science |
| Р | [Sergei Diaghilev’s] Ballets Russes | Русский балет | performing arts |
| С | Sputnik | Спутник | aviation and space technology |
| Т | [Leo] Tolstoy | Толстой | literature |
| Т | Television [likely referring to Boris Rosing’s experiments] | Телевидение | technology |
| У | Ushanka [hat] |
Ушанка |
folk culture |
| Ф | Fisht [a mountain and the name of the Soichi stadium holding the opening ceremony] | Фишт | geography |
| Х | Khokhloma [painting style] | Хохлома | folk culture |
| Ц | [Rocket scientist Konstantin] Tsiolkovsky | Циолковский | aviation and space technology |
| Ч | [Anton] Chekhov | Чехов | literature |
| Ш | [Marc] Chagall [also associated with France] | Шагал | painting |
| Щ | [Architect Alexey] Shchusev | Щусев | architecture |
| Ъ | [Alexander] Pushkin [note the Ъ is implied but not explicitly written in the name] | Пушкин | literature |
| Ы | We [note that the Ы appears at the end of the word] | Мы | general |
| Ь | [The little girl narrator of the story] Lyubov (“Love”) [note the Ь appears at the end of the word] | Любовь | general |
| Э | [Sergei] Eisenstein | Эйзенштейн | cinema |
| Ю | [Gleb Kotelnikov’s] Parachute [note that Ю appears in the word] | Парашют | aviation and space technology |
| Я | Russia [note that Я appears at the end of the word] | Россия | geography |
Now grouping these together, we see the most popular broad categories are
Arts (5 literature, 3 painting, 2 cinema, 1 architecture, 1 music)
Science and technology (8 aviation and space technology; 2 [other technology]; 1 science)
It was a bit surprising to see so much formal culture discussed in a popular forum (especially since the program also included references to War and Peace, etc., and featured classical music icons such as Anna Netrebko and Valery Gergiev).
Contrast Russia’s pride for its high culture, for example, to the opening and closing ceremonies at the Vancouver Winter Olympics which featured performances by K. D. Lang [yes, I know she does not like to capitalize her name], Garou, Nelly Furtado, Bryan Adams; with the closing ceremony featuring William Shatner, Michael J. Fox Catherine O’Hara, and Michael Bublé.
BLT 