[lbo-talk] What is genocide?

[Chris Doss]

You can't translate these kinds of things literally.
"Pogrom" is related to the word for "thunder," "grom,"
and the word for "to thunder," "gromit'." It means to
engage in grassroots violence. Conceptually it is
related to the concept of "bardak," which literally
means "whorehouse," but in common usage means losing
control of oneself and has a certain Dionysian
content, the idea that you are losing control over
yourself and giving into baser urges joyfully. E.g. it
is "bardak" if you have been on a several-day drinking
binge and wake up in a room full of smashed furniture,
with vomit on the floor, blood on the carpet, a used
condom in the bed and you can't remember why. It's
Kaskolnikov. ;)

I remember reading an account of a Western journalist
during the collapse of the USSR speaking to his
Russian counterpart: "This is a revolution!" "No, this
is bardak."

--- joanna <123hop at comcast.net> wrote:


> So, does 'pogrom' mean uprising? riot? what?
> 
> Joanna
> 
>

Nu, zayats, pogodi!

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