"Live like life", Chukovsky. Summary, analysis

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

First of all, Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky is known as the author of children's poems about Moidodyr and flying chairs. But the writer was also a literary critic and advocated for the preservation of a living, vibrant Russian language. The book "Alive as Life" dedicated to this issue (first published in 1962) has become a classic. We will talk about its content today.

Chapter One: "Old and New"

The story about the famous lawyer and academician Anatoly Koni opens the first chapter "Living like life" (Chukovsky), a summary of which we will now analyze. Anatoly Fedorovich was known as a man of very great kindness. But only until the moment when I heard awkward Russian speech. Here his anger knew no bounds, although often the interlocutor was not really to blame.

The fact is that at that time the honorary academician was already old. He was born and raised at a time when the word "necessarily" meant"kindly, respectfully." But it took on a different meaning over time, and now meant "certainly." Anyone who used the word "necessarily" in the sense of "certainly" immediately fell under a flurry of criticism.

Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky talks about these changes in the language, and whether it is always bad, about the "diseases" of Russian speech and other things in this book.

Chapter two: "Imaginary diseases and real ones"

What can be considered a "disease of the word"? The book "Alive as Life" (Chukovsky), whose genre can be defined as something between journalism and linguistic research, helps to understand this issue.

Did you know that in Pushkin's poems the word "scrupulous" has a completely unusual meaning for us - "haberdashery"? The word "family", so familiar, first denoted slaves and servants, and then - a wife. An interesting "pedigree" and the word "mess". At first, this was the name of a very refined dish of the 17th century, dearly loved by the boyars. Then a mess began to be called a sharp pain in the abdomen caused by a nasty talker. Soldier cooks threw unpeeled fish in the sand into the cauldron, onions, crackers, sauerkraut and everything that was at hand. And only then "mess" acquired the familiar meaning of "turmoil, disorder".

These transformations are natural, the language grows and develops, and it is impossible and even stupid to resist this, the author believes.

Chapter Three: "Foreign Words"

This chapter is a logical continuation of the previous one. The book "Alive as Life" (Chukovsky), the summary of which we are discussing, would be incomplete without foreign words. A lot of letters were written to Korney Chukovsky by ordinary people who care about the preservation of the Russian language. Many felt that foreign words should be banished as quickly as possible.

The author gives examples of foreign words that have long become Russian: algebra, alcohol, stocking, artel, rally, steering wheel, rails, naive, serious … "Is it really possible to throw them out of living Russian speech?" Chukovsky asks. At the same time, he rejoices that many foreign words have not taken root in everyday life and have not supplanted the original Russian ones. For example, the once popular “freestikkat” will never come into the language of an ordinary person. Instead, we "have breakfast".

Chapter Four: "Umslopogasy"

Trendy verbal abbreviations are also unable to spoil the Russian language. But in the work "Living as Life" (Chukovsky), the analysis of which we are conducting, an entire chapter is devoted to them. And not in vain. It is the abbreviations that show how important moderation is in everything. For example, such abbreviations as the Moscow Art Theater, savings bank, labor day did not spoil the Russian speech at all.

But the fashion for abbreviations has given rise to many "monsters". Tverbul Pampush is indeed Tverskoy Boulevard, a monument to Pushkin. Massively shortened names - Pyotr Pavlovich turned into Pe Pa as for students,and fellow teachers. But the worst were the abbreviations-pallindromes Rosglavstankoinstrumentsnabsbyt, Lengorshveitrikotazpromsoyuz, Lengormetallorempromsoyuz and others of this type.

From this we must conclude, one of the main ones: everything depends on a sense of style and proportionality.

Chapter Five: "Vulgarisms"

Readers of the 1960s often considered "obscene" such words as "grey paws", "pants", "stink", "rubbish", "blow your nose" and many similar words, which are absolutely natural for a modern person. The author recalls an angry letter addressed to him for using the word "champs" in the article.

Vulgar slang of today's youth is quite another matter, writes Chukovsky in "Live like life". The brief content of the chapter boils down to the fact that such jargon as "Bullshit", "shendyapilsya" (instead of "fell in love"), "dude", "kadryshka" (instead of "girl"), "lobuda", "chicara" and so on desecrate not only the Russian language, but also the concepts that young people use them for.

The author rightly notes that the dude who got into the frame does not experience the lofty feelings of love that are described in the poems of Alexander Blok. Corruption of the language through vulgarity leads to moral decay, therefore, jargon should be zealously eradicated.

Chapter Six: "Office"

It is the book of Korney Chukovsky"Alive as life" gave the name to the only real "disease" of Russian speech - office work. This term is used by linguists, including the translator Nora Gal in the book "The Word Living and Dead".

Chancery is the language of bureaucracy, business papers and offices. All these "the foregoing", "this certificate was issued", "the specified period", "on the basis of this", "and therefore", "for lack of", "due to the absence", "as regards" have firmly taken their place in business documentation (while sometimes reaching the point of absurdity).

The problem is that the clerk has penetrated the ordinary spoken language. Now instead of "green forest" they began to say "green array", the usual "quarrel" has become a "conflict", and so on. These figures of speech, borrowed from manufactured papers, have become "litmus test". It was believed that every cultured, well-bred person should have such words in his vocabulary.

To say "It rained heavily" on the radio was considered rustic and uncivilized. Instead, it sounded "Heavy rain fell." Unfortunately, the office problem has not disappeared. Today, this disease has strengthened its position even more. No scientist can defend a dissertation written in simple, understandable language. In everyday life, we constantly insert clerical phrases without noticing it ourselves. So the lively, strong, sparkling Russian colloquial speech turns into gray and dry. And thisthe only tongue disease to fight.

Chapter Seven: "Against the Elements"

Many perceive the Russian language as an element with which it is impossible to cope. So Chukovsky writes in "Live as Life". The summary of the last, seventh chapter boils down to the fact that at a time when knowledge is available to everyone, regular and evening schools are open, no one has the right to be illiterate, not to respect their language.

All wrong words and phrases must be eradicated, and the culture of the masses must rise, not fall. And just colloquial speech is an indicator of the growth or decline of culture.

Results

K. Chukovsky, with his research, started a big discussion around the Russian language. He did not stick to any one side and proceeded from carefully checked data and a sense of proportion. Like K. Paustovsky, Korney Ivanovich was very fond of the Russian language, so "Alive as Life" is still a must-read book for everyone - both linguists and those who want to fall in love with lively, simple Russian speech.