I Georgia on his mind
Americans have many stereotypes of the
Soviet Union and its people. And because of
geographical and political distances, Americans,
as well as Soviets, rarely move beyond those
boundaries.
But one University professor was able to see a
different side of the Soviets than what's usually
presented in newspapers or broadcasts.
During his four-month teaching stint in the
Soviet Union’s Republic of Georgia, English Prof.
Frederick Newberry became close to the Georgian
citizens. His experiences reveal the human side of
its citizens: their strong emphasis on relationships,
their admiration for Americans and their quiet
sadness over the oppressive communistic system.
Newberry was one of ten Fulbright applicants
approved by government authorities in Moscow
from an original field of 44 applicants. He taught
American literature at the State University of Tbilisi
in the Republic of Georgia, from which he recently
returned.
The Republic lies in the southernmost part of
the Soviet Union. On the south, it borders Turkey.
The Caucuses Mountains border its northern and
northwestern sides. Within the Republic live 5
million people, of whom 1.2 million reside in its
capital, Tbilisi, where Newberry stayed.
To understand his experiences, one must first
put them in the proper context, Newberry says. He
met only Georgian citizens, and their impressions
of Soviet life may differ from the Moscovites.’
The Georgian “intelligentsia," many of whom
Newberry became friends with, are comprised of
teachers and professors. They consider
themselves the educated and enlightened class.
“They’re old aristocrats hanging on to their
sense of cultural superiority — particularly over the
communists,” Newberry says. “They think of the
Russians as being quite culturally inferior.”
From the Georgians, Newberry received many
"expressions of warmth and hospitality and love.”
The competition for military superiority that exists
between the Soviet and American governments
does not extend to the Georgian citizens.
*Sf/ that at ft
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"I think that I was accepted, and if you'll permit me, loved because I was an American,” says University
English Prof. Fred Newberry. “The Georgians have a predisposition to like us. ”
I
After teaching the Soviets literature,
Fred Mewberry reflects on their warmth
“I think that I was accepted, and if you’ll per
mit me, loved, because I was an American,"
Mewberry says. “The Georgians have a predisposi
tion to like us.”
In fact, the Georgians went out of their way to
impress Newberry and make him feel at home. He
received “such eloquent expressions at dinners
and other occasions amongst friends that made me
cry. I’ve never had people speak to me in such a
way. And it made me cry because they think so well
t>f us and they have such a marvelous image of our
country. They’re so proud of their own heritage, and
/et feel so oppressed within the Soviet system."
Newberry was able to gain the trust of a few
Georgians who revealed to him their feelings
toward the “oppressive" Soviet system. Newberry
could not disclose specifics about these conversa
tions “for fear of jeopardizing” his Georgian
friends. Yet he described situations that ex
emplified their oppression.
Because the Soviet government does not en
courage its citizens to fraternize with one another
— or with Westerners — Newberry met his friends
in secret. When he wanted to leave Tbilisi to visit
the countryside, he did so secretly because his visa
mandated he stay within the city limits.
And when Soviet citizens do fraternize with
Westerners, they must inform the KGB, the Soviet
intelligence agency. "I’m fairly confident a couple
of people I was seeing were reporting to the KGB,”
he says. The ‘reporters’ were merely following a
ritual by giving "innocous reports” to the KGB, he
says.
In the city, people must keep a tight rein on
their behavior, because stepping out of line can
lead to trouble with the government. “I knew a case
of a man in Moscow who was taken by the militia
and beaten for hours simply because he yelled too
loudly for a taxi,” Newberry says.
The Georgian citizens have seen “Russians
coming in and machine-gunning people down"
when they stepped out of line, Newberry says. So
they rightly fear for young rebels.
In his American literature classes, which were
taught in English to Soviet students majoring in the
language, Newberry was forced to lecture for the
entire class period because “the students had no
experience of being asked their opinions. I couldn't
get them to talk. They were embarassed.”
Although Newberry was able to lecture openly
in his classes, he was careful not to step “too far
out of line — but I could tell I did.” Newberry’s
students, as well as the Soviet teachers observing
him, were surprised to hear him occasionally
criticize America or tell negative aspects of its
history.
“They have a pretty idealized view of us. They
know negative things about our country, but these
are very selective things, things they’ve been told
and propagandized.”
The citizens are told America is poverty-ridden
and violent, yet the image of the wealthy American
is prevalent. They see America much in the same
way the 19th and early 20th century European im
migrants saw America — as the promised land,
Newberry says.
As Newberry became more aware of op
pressive situations, he began to sense “great fear,"
despondency and hopelessness lying beneath the
warm surface of the Soviet citizens.
Yet within their despondency, the Georgians
try and live the best they can in a system that is
"remarkably inefficient and unwielding."
There was one issue that the Georgians often
raised with Newberry: nuclear confrontation bet
ween the two superpowers.
“They’re afraid of a nuclear confrontation,”
Newberry says of the Georgians. “But they’re not
opposed to our standing up to the Russians — at
all. Some seem to welcome it. They don’t mind if
the Russians and Americans go at it, but they don't
want to fight against Americans. They don’t want to
die in the process or have their country wiped out.
So they're very much afraid of nuclear war.
“They’re leary of Reagan on the one hand
because of the nuclear issue, but they admire him
on the other because he stands up to the Rus
sians,” Newberry says. “They fear that the Soviet
system will take over the world. They look to us as a
kind of hope that that won’t happen, but they fear
that it will.”
Out of their oppression and fear, the
Georgians turn to family and friends to make their
lives meaningful. No matter what sex or age, it is
not uncommon to see people walking arm-in-arm or
hand-in-hand down Georgian streets.
Being with family and friends is “part of the
Georgian tradition,” he says. "It betters their sense
of not having much else in life.” Unlike Americans,
the Soviets have little hope of advancing in a career
or acquiring certain things many Americans work
hard for, he says.
Although the people try not to be sad, “you see
it,” he says.
"They try to be realistic. They do what they can
to face the everyday realities of the Soviet system,
and hold on to as much of their history and cultural
identities as they can and cultivate them. They
treasure them. Thus the great love for family and
friends.”
him as much as they could before he left. They did
not want him to go, and they gave him many gifts.
In turn, Newberry gave them the books he had used
in his classes. Uncensored editions of American
works are rare in the Soviet Union, he says.
Although it was difficult to leave his friends,
he was glad to get back to the United States. They
all want their American friend to come back,
Newberry says, but he is not sure if he will.
Although Newberry does not verbalize it, one
senses the pain he felt at witnessing the
Georgian's sadness underneath their resiliant,
warm exterior. Americans cannot comprehend this
sadness because they are ‘free,’ Newberry says.
While he was there, Newberry heard one word
over and over — freedom.
“People said they could tell I was an American
just in the way I laughed. It was the laugh of so
meone who was free.”
i
I
Story by Joan Herman
Photos by Mark Pynes
rasmasm
I
Continued from Page 1
Soap
“Instead of having artificial situations, you see
real situations with attractive and crusty people" in
the drama, Leong says. And at the end of the soap
opera, the Russian characters don’t live happily ever
after, he says.
By viewing typical situations, students will learn
a natural, contemporary Russian that is rareiy ac
quired from a textbook, he says The soap's issues
are universal: the generation gap, young Soviet
students' aspirations and, of course, love
The four-day intensive classes will meet six
hours daily, and "not a second is wasted," Leong
says. "It's a very sophisticated class.” In only one
week, the class cannot give a complete grounding m
the Russian language, art and culture, but it’s a good
start, he says.
The class was designed specifically to give
American teachers a global perspective of the Soviet
Union, including its culture, history and current
events, as well as its language.
Yet the class is especially useful for future
travelers to the Soviet Union, a nation vastly different
from the United States, Leong says. Knowing Soviet
customs and mores is an essential survival skill in the
foreign land. Not knowing them may land the naive
American tourist in trouble.
"Going to the Soviet Union is like traveling in
outer space," says Leong, who has made the ‘ter
restial' voyage five times. "It's an entirely different
world. We prepare our students for space travel.”
In the soap, symbolically titled "Goodbye, Sum
mer,” Leong’s students meet Olga, a bright jour
nalism student at the University of Moscow or
Mockba (pronounced Mos-kuh-vuh). Olga falls in love
with the dashing Victor, a worldy wise taxi driver with
an eye for the good things in life.
At the soap’s ending, Olga graduates and the
government, which has financed her education,
assigns Olga her first job — in Siberia — which
means leaving Victor and her family at the soap’s
conclusion.
Although the series was filmed entirely on loca
tion in the Soviet Union with Russian actors, it was
produced by the British Broadcasting Corp. and
designed as an educational series for American
teachers of Russian. But the engaging drama oc
cupies only one-third of the BBC series. The other
two-thirds include a narrative explaining the Russian
dialogue, commentary on the scenes and instruction
in pronunciation.
The value of learning ‘standard’ Russian in a
predominantly English-speaking world may not be
readily apparent. But communication with the world’s
other superpower is vital to the United States.
Therefore standard Russian is “one of the most im
portant languages to learn right now," Leong says.
And it’s not as difficult to learn as the Soviets would
have English speakers believe, he adds.
Difficulty aside, hope for peace among the two
superpowers motivates Leong in his teaching.
“I always had a dream that if people had a better
understanding of each other, they wouldn’t kill each
other.
"We (Americans) have the image of the Soviet
Union as blood thirsty. Yet the people who have ex
perienced the horrors of war don’t want war. This is
my way of trying to promote peace,” Leong says.
The class — Russ 407g., “Teaching Russian
Culture in a Global Perspective,” — is being offered
Aug. 15-19 for three credit hours.
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