October, 15, 2005
The Chechen diary - 10
(the Notes of the Observer)
We continue the publication "Chechen diary" of Andrey Novikov. The author - active participant of democratic movement in 80th, a member of group "Doverie" (trust). In 90th of the last century worked as the political analyst in "Literatunaja Gazeta" and a weekly journal "Vek". The unpublished notes turned into a book - a political diary of epoch of the first years of the Second Chechen war. The special attention is deserved by political forecasts of the author, the majority from which have eventually proved to be true.
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December, 4, 2000.
My first book was "TheGreat Mouravi", narrating about the heroic history of Georgia.
My first love were the Caucasian mountains seen by me in 14 years.
My first friend was Abhazian.
One of the most favourite films of my childhood was "Data Tutashkhia". It was shown on Soviet TV right at the beginning of 80th years and narrated about the noble Caucasian robber. Now it - for understandable reasons - is not shown.
With each year in the Russian society is created the image of "Caucasian enemy". Recently the ridiculous bureaucratic term "the face of Caucasian nationality" was corrected: loke if there is no such nationality. Now, I have noticed, this expression is used without quotation marks. It is used everywhere, even on pages of the liberal editions.
From people, apparently, intelligent, in Russia is possible to hear expression "black-ass". (and what should we call people using this term: "white-ass"? anyway, what is this conviction that the essence of the person is defined by his ass, instead of other place?)
Russia without Caucasus is the same, that England without Scotland, India without the Himalayas. It is her top, its height, its dream and freedom. May the Englishman humiliate the Scot, or the inhabitant of flat India Himalaya mountaineer? Great poets of Russia Pushkin and Lermontov have devoted to Caucasus the best verses. All Russian spiritual tradition - in the best, vertical displays was devoted to Caucasus, to "the mountain world" (the word "mountain" in old church language meant "heavenly", "unearthly", "spiritual").
All breadth of Russian steppes and plains, birch groves and the rivers appears to be the flat world if to deprive Russia of height of the Caucasian mountains. Whether it is necessary to remind, what bards have devoted to Caucasus such verses which they did not devote to the Russia?
And now words "mountaineer", "Caucasian" became almost abusive in Russia. And it even is not connected to the Chechen war, but is a result of new mentality of the Russian people, who rushed to clear the cities and villages from "blacks".
Alas, they have forgotten, that the person with a white skin may be with a black soul.
Russia cuts itself from the "mountain world", becomes isolated in a poor nationalistic little world. Russian people who were always distinguished with breadth of soul (in the best sense of this word), today put on a mask of nationalism. All of us read Tolstoy's "Caucsian captive" We remember the hole, in which Russian officers sat, about the passionate maiden eyes looking from above, about impudent runaway and the mountain magnanimity. The captivity, love, war - Tolstoy has it all. And now the director Bodrov senior shoots the worthless film named, as Tolstoy's novel, in which there is nothing, except for war. Tens writers, actors, script writers work on creation of the same image of the enemy. At top of mountain, there, where, maybe, with a guitar Visotsky sang, now is a Russian tank and in crystal silence shoots the passes.
I want to to exclaim: Russia, stop, don't fight with Caucasus. Do not go with hatred in mountains. Do not shoot in silence which does not belong to you, do not cause the avalanches on your head.
The fault of mountaineers in what they have conceived on Caucasus is great. But the fault of Russia which does not understand with what she is fighting is incommensurable to it.
When the crystal Caucasian sky will fall on Russia, everyone who lives there will get hurt.
She will break her century dream, her mountain world, her freedom.
December, 31, 2000.
I hear all the time: it is impossible to allow the disintegration of Russia, it is impossible to allow the disintegration of Russia. In this sacralisation there is something far-fetched, very much reminding last years of existence of Garbachovs Union. (In general, this accented sacralisation of the states, cries, that "we must not allow it to fall apart" assume presence of a decay in this state, predispositions to disintegration. You see, nobody will start to worry about "maintining the integrity" well, say, of Mont Blanc or Elbrus. Or any other monolith. but a barkhan from sand or a "colossus on clay feet", really, require strengthening.)
Gorbachov's shabby Union was being "strengthened" because it was floating under the legs as a sand mountain. As quicksands, swallowing in ther black interior everything, that was on their surface. And more they strengthened, the more they shot that sand mountain, quicker it fell apart, burying under itself the architects of reconstruction.
Precisely the same way they "strengthen" now the Russia, not understanding, that "Russia" is no longer a fire-spitting volcano, not a luminiferous civilization filled with the images and senses from the future, but the decrepit, rusty rest of the Soviet empire.
This "remains" of "post-soviet" Russia is visible to both geopolitic, and world outlook plans.
Geopoliticaly "RF" is cut out from Procrustean bed of "RSFSR" which never was the independent state. The Chechen Republic, Tatarstan, Russian regions never belonged to RSFSR. All of them were parts of more complex allied system. The death of this system meant also loss of the right of Russia to dispose the territories of RSFSR. And then was chosen the new hoop, instead of allied, a new centrifuge - so-called FEDERALISM. Regions have signed the Federal contract and have ostensibly created the new state. Those who did not want to sign (Tatarstan), again have forced to enter the old Procrustean bed of RSFSR. And this centrifuge which can not be brought in movement, static for the time being, have decided to untwist with the help of monstrous Chechen war, having inspired Russians, that they can't live without the Chechen Republic. Lifes of thousand soldiers were thrown infurnace of this war. With acts of terrorism, as with napalm, was possible to blow up Russia, and thousands of people appeared in an epicentre of this burning plasma, blinded, burnt, ready to direct the pain and hatred on false "Chechen" trace.
In this turmoil to authority has come a half-man with goat hoofs, with a muzzle of jackal, or a raccoon, and a dragon a grin from Mark Zaharov's film "Kill a dragon". This strange half-man flied on fighters, gave autographes to hysterical student girls and called the governors, whom ordered to remove trousers and stuck in their perineum a silver plug from ancient Kremlin service.
Russia has accepted the Animal and has bowed to it.
On a jet of blood were pulled vampires from fundamentalistic newspaper "Zavtra", have clung the stained with blood mouthes to a cut. Thousand smaller vampires have joined them and the nation, thinking that she is a superstate, was slowly inflated from blood, like a bloodsucker.
Under neon light in studio of the program "Vremja" sat Katja Andreeva in SS distinctions and conducted unceasing Gebbels-like propagation, shaking before Gleb Pavlovsk the torn off eggs of members of Federation council.
This is what we came to for last year.
Russia - zombie, Russia - vampire, "postSoviet civilisation of remains", drunk wth blood, tries to find the second life nowadays.
Sooner or later in it will be hammered in with an aspen stake.
Disintegration of the decayed superpower cannot be stopped - as it is impossible to prevent birth of the new nations, new identities on the postSoviet space.
I do not see anything bad in "dissociation of Russia". Russia is not people, not ethnos, not a monad, disintegration of wich would be equal to her destruction (as say the Russian fundamentalists). Russia is the empire that has collapsed under its own weight. Positive sense of any obsolete empire is to leave after herself certain civilized landscape and to move in area of mystical (if such is present). So happened with Roman and, subsequently, Sacred Roman empire: they were good because have created Europe as a space for life. Both these empires "left in time", having left, as a huge reptile, a dried up armour of "civilized" plateau on which new peoples have lodged.
We somehow overlook, that modern Europe has arisen AS A RESULT OF DISINTEGRATION. Disintegration of Sacred Roman empire (by the way, it has existed as much, as the USSR: hardly more than 70 years) has resulted in occurrence "free cities", independent kingdoms and the duchies becoming prototypes of modern France, Germany, Italy, Austria. There was even our Putin's analogue: in middle of X century Otton the Great again has proclaimed "United and undivided Sacred Roman empire". And again it was disorganized. The German sovereigns (such, as Fridrich II) periodically ruined free Italian cities for their separatism. Ruined once, through a crusade of barons, even one French area. For "erethism". And all the same: birth of the new nations was impossible to stop. France for Germany was the same, probably, as for us Ukraine. Some kind of amisunderstanding. outgrowth. A province muttering on a ridiculous language. Crests, in general. It all ended by XVI century when France has created the largest in Europe "absolutist" state, though nominally "sarcum imperium" (the crown of Sacred Roman empire) was in hands of Austrian Gabsburgs. In 1802 Napoleon has abolished this for a long time non-existing empire.
fragmentation of life is not a problem. It is not necessary to be afraid to become Europe. The postimperial history is always more interesting than actually imperial. But, thinking about "Post-Russia", comparing her with Europe, you recollect also other area of the European world - Byzantium which was only the east part of all of the same Roman empire, but, having become isolated, whether has turned to a shabby enclave of half-Asian despotism. Will Russia go on a way of the Western Europe or on a way of Byzantium? Byzantium has not found in herself courage to become post-empire and was completely ruined in 1453, forever, not how Rome in V century.
With all heart I am for disorder of Russia, for clearing of souls and monads, immureed in her imperial concrete. I do not want, that Russia has turned in half-sascistic rotting Byzantium and, eventually, disappeared absolutely. She should "break apart" to live longer. She was created for centuries from papier-mache, from diverse ethnoses, spaces, areas of life. All of them are pressed on each other. Let everyone become everyone! Nothing terrible if we thus should pass through wilfulness "apanage princes". There is no way back. To operate in XXI centurythrough autocracy and "general-governors" is impossible. Putin is the last shine of the imperial sun before final dusk.
(Continuation follows)
Andrey Novikov, independent analyst, for Chechenpress, 15.10.05.
http://chechenpress.co.uk/english/news/2005/10/15/03.shtml
