"Conversation at the Television Set" ()Also known as Family Circus, Conversation, Conversation in the Circus, Conversation in the Circus, or Conversation at the TV set, Conversation at the Circus, or At the TV set at home, Conversation at the TV set, Conversation at the TV set, or Conversation at the Circus, Sketch, Family Picture, or Conversation at the TV set, Incident at the Circus.Vysotsky, V. (1991). Сочинения. В 2 томах [Essays. In 2 volumes.] (in Russian). Vol. 1. М.: Художественная литература. P. 434. . is a song written by Vladimir Vysotsky in 1972–1973.Vysotsky V. Собрание стихов и песен в трёх томах / Составители: А. Ан. Львов, А. Сумеркин. New York: Apollon Foundation & Russica Publishers, 1988. V. 1. pp. 392—393. The first known performance of the song by the author occurred in January 1973 at concerts in Leningrad.Petrakov А. Каталог песен и стихов В. Высоцкого // Вагант: приложение / при участии Р. Зеленой. М.: ГКЦМ В. С. Высоцкого, 1991. February (issue 2). P. 2.Vysotsky, V. (1996). Собрание сочинений в пяти томах [Works Collection in Five Volumes] (in Russian). Vol. 3. Песни и стихи. 1973—1975. Тула: Тулица. P. 34. . The poem was published in Russian during the poet's lifetime in 1977 in Paris as part of a collection of poems called . In the fall of that year, the song was released in France on a record called . In 1979, the text of Conversation and other poems by Vysotsky were included in the uncensored anthology of poetry and prose by twenty-three famous writers, the almanac Metropol (compiled by Vasily Aksyonov, Andrei Bitov, and others). The publication of this almanac in the United States led to attacks and persecution of its compilers and participants. In the USSR, the song was published after the poet's death, in 1981, in the collection of poems Nerv, and in 1990 it was included in the Melodiya record Delayed Drop ().
Conversation at the Television Set is a song piece for two characters. The characters, Vanya and Zina, have a conversation in front of the TV. In the conversation, they talk about everyday life and a circus show. The song captures the atmosphere of everyday life in the USSR in the 1970s. It contains recognizable symbols and details that reflect the public mood in the USSR during the second half of the 20th century. Researchers include the work in various poetic cycles of Vysotsky and find in it the influence of both comic couplets popular in the 1950s and short stories by Mikhail Zoshchenko. Over time, the song's characters have become like winged expressions and have been added to modern collections of short, pithy sayings.
Plot and characters Art historian Natalia Rubinstein says that Vladimir Vysotsky's song is a kind of "play with a developed mise-en-scène," which means it has elaborate scenery and two characters.Rubinstein N. Народный артист // Нева. 1990. № 3. P. 182. The song's plot is based on their Conversation, which covers very different topics. One topic is related to the world of the circus and its performers, while the other is more down-to-earth and focuses on domestic and industrial topics.Shatin Yu. V. Поэтическая система Высоцкого В. С // Аквилон (северный ветер): альманах поэзии. 2006. № 2. pp. 41—43. The couple, Vanya and Zina, are from the town. She works in a factory that makes clothes, and he works in a government office. He spends his days "tumbling around" solving problems, but he's not a regular worker. The hero usually relieves the accumulated fatigue and tension "through the store". His evenings at home follow a set pattern: "Eat and then go straight to the sofa".Skobelev A. V., Shaulov S. M. «Я весь в свету». Поэзия как действо, действие и игра // Владимир Высоцкий: мир и слово. Уфа: БГПУ, 2001.
Sitting in front of the TV, Vanya's wife compares the bright, festive atmosphere of the arena with her own life. She realizes that the glitter and beauty of circus is very different from her own life. Zina, who started the conversation, talks about what she has seen and brings up important issues to discuss. Vanya, who has to deal with these conversations, reacts to his wife's comments with jokes, tiredness, or anger. She always starts by suggesting that he look at the screen: "Oh, Vanya! Look, what clowns!". After reacting emotionally to the performance, the heroine automatically switches to family matters: "And you, by God, Vanya, / Well, all your friends are such trash." Vanya's attempts at defending himself are awkward. He tries to make his friends' drinking habits seem noble ("But they don't take from the family"), reminds his wife of her past ("And you yourself, Zin, / You had a friend from the tire factory..."),Tire Plant — Moscow Tire Plant is the oldest Russian enterprise for the production of automobile tires.Vysotsky, V. (2012). Летела жизнь в плохом автомобиле: [Стихотворения] [Life flew by in a bad automobile: [Poems]] (in Russian). СПб.: Амфора. P. 133. . and asks questions that make himself look innocent ("Who wrote the complaints to my management? / Not you? I did read them!").Kikhney L. G., Temirshina O. R. Грани диалога в песенном творчестве // Проблемы поэтики русской литературы XX века в контексте культурной традиции. Материалы международной научной конференции. М.: МАКС Пресс, 2006.The television set plays an important role in the play. For the actors, it's a tool for their performance, but it also serves as a "window to the world", where life appears almost perfect. Although the real world and the imaginary world don't intersect, the characters sometimes mix them up in their minds. For example, Zina starts to imagine what it would be like to be a circus performer "in a short T-shirt".Short T-shirt — Vysotsky explained in one of his speeches that this was how he named the miniskirt. But her husband quickly shuts down her fantasy. "Besides, this T-shirt, Zina, / You put it on, you'll be shamed, / You'll need an arshin of sewing — / Where's the money, Zin?" At the same time, the simple words and expressions included in the song ("hobbled gasoline," "get away," "you gonna offend me") do not seem overly expressive in the context of the Conversation. They sound organic because they are part of the familiar, everyday language of the characters. While watching the TV program, they manage to discuss a lot of relevant topics, but the overall outcome of the conversation is considered by researchers as a "communicative failure". The couple has a lot to say to each other, but they don't try to agree with each other. In fact, their conversation is like "a conversation of two 'deaf' people".
The characters in the song communicate without the author's intervention, yet the song maintains the "bitter humor" characteristic of Vysotsky's depictions of characters.Shaulov S. M. Театральность лирики Высоцкого // Вагант. 1990. № 5. P. 3. Literary scholar Vladimir Novikov says that the poet acts as a "satirist in the Gogol's style". meaning that he uses humor to critique society. This is evident in the story of Vanya and Zina, where their family history is portrayed with "laughter visible to the world" and "unknown tears".It's not "condescending complicity" or "rude flirtation". It's human sympathy, the awareness of closeness and shared fate with the characters. This doesn't contradict the sharpness and wit of exposing the sadness and absurdity of life. This is the "inner being" of the poet in this poem. This is how the author of the Conversation at the television set felt. "I prefer the Russian tradition, Gogol's tradition — laughing while crying. You laugh, but it also makes you feel sad".
Signs of time Researchers say that Vysotsky's poetry is full of signs, symbols, associations, and everyday-life details. These details show the public mood in the USSR from 1960 to 1970. It's no coincidence that one of the books about the poet's work is called Vysotsky as an Encyclopedia of Soviet Life. In it, Andrey Krylov and Anatoly Kulagin, along with other experts, closely analyze parts of Conversation at the Television Set and explain the ideas that were a part of the daily life of Vysotsky's peers.
So, in the lines "Oh, Vanya, look what clowns! / Their mouths could be sewn shut... / Oh, what a lot of makeup they have, Vanya, / And their voices sound like alcoholics!" is a reference to the work of Oleg Popov and Yuri Nikulin, clowns popular in the 1970s. They worked together with the eccentric Mikhail Shuydin. Oleg Popov often performed with a big, exaggerated smile, and Yuri Nikulin was known for playing Fool. "Fool" appeared in popular comedies by Leonid Gaidai (Moonshiners, Operation 'Y' and Shurik's Other Adventures, Kidnapping, Caucasian Style) and Yevgeny Karelov (Seven Old Men and A Girl).Vysotsky, V. (2012). Летела жизнь в плохом автомобиле: [Стихотворения] [Life flew by in a bad automobile: [Poems]] (in Russian). СПб.: Амфора. P. 111. .Zina's next line ("Oh, Vanya, look at these little dwarfs! / They're wearing in jersey, not cheviot, - / At our Fifth Garment Factory / Hardly anyone can sew such a thing". The line contains terms related to the fashion of the time. "Jersey" is a name for a stretchy, soft woolen fabric. The widespread use of this fabric was promoted by Coco Chanel. "Cheviot" is a type of thick fabric that comes in a single color (usually gray, black, or blue) and is often used to make coats and other outerwear. The fifth sewing factory, where the heroine works, used to be called the Moscow Order of the Red Banner of Labor Sewing Factory No. 5, named after Profintern. During the period described in the story, the factory was located in Maly Karetny Lane, not far from the house on Bolshoy Karetny, where the author of the song lived. R. M. Klimova, Vysotsky's neighbor from 1938 to 1947, worked at this factory.Vysotsky, V. (2012). Летела жизнь в плохом автомобиле: [Стихотворения] [Life flew by in a bad automobile: [Poems]] (in Russian). СПб.: Амфора. pp. 112-113. .
Vanya's reply to his wife also references current fashion trends: "My friends, though not in bologna, / But they don't steal from the family". In the USSR of the second half of the 20th century, raincoats and raincoats made of — a nylon fabric with a one-sided waterproof coating — were considered "the standard of urban elegance".Vysotsky V. Песни. Стихотворения. Проза М.: Эксмо, 2010. P. 691—814. 813 p. (Библиотека всемирной литературы). Zinina's factory life may also be connected with the line: "And your friends, Zin, // All knit caps for winters" refers to a type of additional income that was punishable under the Criminal Code of the RSFSR (article Private Entrepreneurship) to supplement the meager family budget. In times of total shortage, including yarn for knitting, its source could be theft from production.
The couple says things like, "And they always drink such bad alcohol at such an early hour!" and "But they drink such bad alcohol out of economy: / They drink it in the morning but for their own money!", "The other one drank even gasoline!" show what life was like in the Soviet Union during the 1970s. At that time, the government was the only one who allowed to make alcohol, and it was illegal to make own alcohol. Since it was expensive to buy alcohol, people used perfume and cologne as substitutes. They also used other things to make alcohol, like window cleaners, denatured alcohol, and glue BF-6. These products were called "benzocognac" (a mixture of gasoline and alcohol that was then burned), "liquor 'Chassis'""Liquor 'Chassis'" refers to filtered brake fluid for airplane chassis. from aviation ingredients and others.Voiskunsky E. L. Мир тесен. М.: Советский писатель, 1990. pp. 199—200. 503 с.