The setting of one of Brecht's plays is, in his own words, "Chicago which is not Chicago." Never having been to the city himself, he has set his play in the Chicago in his imagination. He wants anyone putting up his play to have that in the forefront of their minds (how Brechtian).
Anyway, so I guess what this brings to mind for me is the question What do we know about Russia, these traditions, this folklore, and how much attention do we want to draw to it's fabrication? Hmmm...
that reminds me of how a lot of times in (at least my) dreams you'll be somewhere and identify it as your house or your school, but it bears no resemblance to that place in real life.
ReplyDeletei really like the idea of a fabricated Russia. I think in order for it to be a place where all the realities of baba can exist, it has to have some non russia realities as well.