Dunno: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Revision as of 10:52, 15 July 2006

Neznaika (Template:Lang-ru, from "не знаю", or "I don't know") is the famous anti-hero created by the Soviet children's writer Nikolai Nosov. In English, Neznaika's name has been been translated as "Dunno" and "Know-Nothing".

Neznaika, recognized by his bright blue hat, canary-yellow trousers, orange shirt, and green tie, is the title character of Nosov's world-famous trilogy, The Adventures of Neznaika and his Friends (1954), Neznaika in Sun City (1958), and Neznaika on the Moon (1966). The three fairy tale novels follow the adventures of the little fictional children-like people living in "Flower City" (Цветочный город). They are described to be sized like "medium cucumbers", a quality that has earned them the name "shorties" or "mites" (Template:Lang-ru). In Nosov's universe, each shorty occupies his/her own niche in the community and is named accordingly. The "three apple tall" Smurfs of the Belgian illustrator Peyo are based on a similar concept. However, unlike in the world that Peyo created, anything unrealistic in Nosov's universe, save his characters' small size, owes itself to science-fiction rather than fantasy or magic.

Another important characteristic of the Neznaika trilogy is that it is heavily didactic. Nosov describes this as an effort to teach "honesty, bravery, comradery, willpower, and persistence" and discourage "jealousy, cowardice, mendacity, arrogance, and effrontery." Strong political undertones are also present. In addition to general egalitarianism and feminism, communist tendencies dominate the works. The first book takes the reader into a typical soviet-like town, the second into a communist utopia, and the third into a satire of capitalism. Nosov's captivating and humorous literary style has made his ideologies accessible to children and adults alike.

Characters

Flower City Dwellers

Named for its abundance of flowers. All streets are named after flowers as well. The Flower City is located by the Cucumber River, on the shore of which many cucumbers grow. Here boy-shorties and girl-shorties live together, but often have trouble getting along.

Neznaika (from Russian "I don't know") - the title character of the trilogy and the most infamous personality in Flower City. His anti-heroic attributes include ignorance, laziness, rudeness, and conceit. Those are juxtaposed with insatiable curiosity, deeply-rooted kindness, ongoing enterprise, and a seemingly-endless pot of luck. He is highly reminiscent of the popular Russian folk hero Ivan the Fool.
Gun'ka - Neznaika's best friend
Znaika (from Russian "I know") - the smartest of the shorties, often adopts the leadership role
Vintik (from Russian "bolt") and Shpuntik - two mechanics
Guslya - a musician
Tyubik (from Russian "tube") - a painter
Knopochka (from Russian "button") - a girl-shorty
Toropyzhka (from Russian "to hurry") - always in a hurry, likes to be first
Rasteryayka (from Russian "to lose") - always loses things
Doctor Pilyulkin - a physician
Ponchik (from Russian "doughnut") - very chubby, likes to eat sweets
Siropchik (from Russian "little syrup") - very chubby, likes to drink carbonated water with syrup
Pul'ka (from Russian "bullet") - a hunter
Bul'ka - Pul'ka's dog
Tsvetik (from Russian "bloomer") - a poet
Pachkulya Pyostrenky (from Russian "dirty piebald") - always gets dirty
Tsirkul (from Russian "compass"), a bicyclist
Vorchun (from Russian "to grumble") - always grumbles and complains
Molchun (from Russian "to be silent") - always very quiet

Green City Dwellers

Named for its abundance of trees. Only girl-shorties live here.

Medunitsa - a doctor girl-shorty, head of the Green City hospital
Sineglazka (from Russian "blue eyes") - a pretty blue-eyed girl-shorty
Snezhinka (from Russian "snowflake") - a pretty fair-skinned girl-shorty
Samotsvetik (from Russian "self-bloomer"), a poet girl-shorty
Zain'ka (from Russian "little rabbit") - a girl-shorty with an embroidered bunny on her dress
Belochka (from Russian "little squirrel") - a girl-shorty with an embroidered squirrel on her dress
Lastochka - a girl-shorty

Kite City Dwellers

Named for its abundance of decorative kites. Only boy-shorties live here.

Gvozdik (from Russian "nail") - a troublemaker
Bublik (from Russian "bagel") - a car driver
Shurupchik (from Russian "screw") - an inventor
Smekaylo - a writer

Plot Summaries

The Adventures of Neznaika and his Friends

Neznaika in the Sunny Town

Neznaika on the Moon

External links

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[image:Neznaika_friends_cover.jpg|thumb|right|''"Neznaika and his Friends"'' book cover]]
-'''Neznaika''' or '''Neznayka''' ({{lang-ru|Незнайка}}, the name derived from the expression "не знаю", or "I don't know") is a character created by [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[children writer]] [[Nikolai Nosov|Nikolai Nikolaevich Nosov]]. The name has been translated into English as '''"Dunno"''' and '''"Know-Nothing"'''.
+'''Neznaika''' ({{lang-ru|Незнайка}}, from "не знаю", or "I don't know") is the famous [[anti-hero]] created by the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[children writer|children's writer]] [[Nikolai Nosov|Nikolai Nosov]]. In English, Neznaika's name has been been translated as '''"Dunno"''' and '''"Know-Nothing"'''.
-Neznaika, recognized by his wide-brimmed bright blue hat, canary-yellow trousers, orange shirt, and green tie, is the [[anti-hero]] of the world famous trilogy, ''The Adventures of Neznaika and his Friends'' (1954), ''Neznaika in Sun-City'' (1958), and ''Neznaika on the Moon'' (1966). The trilogy tells about the life and adventures of fictional tiny (several centimeter high) children-like men called "shorties" ("коротышки"). It is traditionally classified as a [[fairy tale]] (сказка), but there is no magic and other traditional attributes of fairy-tales: besides tiny sizes of heroes, usage of sweet [[sirup]] instead of [[gasoline]] in a car, and some other fantasy elements, including the [[science fiction]]-like setting of the third novel, the heroes live a pretty much "normal" life, just like the life, e.g., in the ''[[Wind in the Willows]]''. The books are heavily [[didactic]]al, especially the third one which is actually a [[political satire]] on the [[capitalist society]]. At the same time, they are  full of humor and adventures, and loved by children.
+Neznaika, recognized by his bright blue hat, canary-yellow trousers, orange shirt, and green tie, is the title character of Nosov's world-famous trilogy, ''The Adventures of Neznaika and his Friends'' (1954), ''Neznaika in Sun City'' (1958), and ''Neznaika on the Moon'' (1966). The three [[fairy tale]] novels follow the adventures of the little fictional children-like people living in "Flower City" (Цветочный город). They are described to be sized like "medium cucumbers", a quality that has earned them the name "shorties" or "mites" ({{lang-ru|коротышки}}). In Nosov's universe, each shorty occupies his/her own niche in the community and is named accordingly. The "three apple tall" [[Smurfs]] of the Belgian illustrator [[Peyo]] are based on a similar concept. However, unlike in the world that Peyo created, anything unrealistic in Nosov's universe, save his characters' small size, owes itself to science-fiction rather than fantasy or magic.
+Another important characteristic of the Neznaika trilogy is that it is heavily [[didactic]]. Nosov describes this as an effort to teach "honesty, bravery, comradery, willpower, and persistence" and discourage "jealousy, cowardice, mendacity, arrogance, and effrontery." Strong political undertones are also present. In addition to general [[egalitarianism]] and [[feminism]], [[communism|communist]] tendencies dominate the works. The first book takes the reader into a typical [[soviet]]-like town, the second into a communist [[utopia]], and the third into a [[satire]] of [[capitalism]]. Nosov's captivating and humorous literary style has made his ideologies accessible to children and adults alike.
-Neznaika and some other characters of the trilogy  became [[stock character]]s in the Soviet children magazine ''[[Murzilka]]'' and in other publications.
-In a nutshell, the first novel is about regular [[Soviet life]] of shorties in an "ordinary" Soviet city, the second one is their jorney into a [[Communism|Communist]] [[utopia]], and the third one is their encounter with [[Capitalism]] still remained in a very remote place (on the Moon) ended with a victorious [[Socialist revolution]].
 ==Characters==
-===Flower City dwellers===
+===Flower City Dwellers===
+Named for its abundance of flowers. All streets are named after flowers as well. The Flower City is located by the Cucumber River, on the shore of which many cucumbers grow. Here boy-shorties and girl-shorties live together, but often have trouble getting along.
-The characters in this city are based on a single personal trait, reflected in their names.
-*Neznaika is a boy who knows nothing, canot do nothing and doesn't want to learn anything. At the same time he is often adventureous, bold, enterprising, resourceful and lucky. In other words, it is scaled-down version of a popular Russian folk hero, ''[[Ivan the Fool]]''.
+*Neznaika (from Russian "I don't know") - the title character of the trilogy and the most infamous personality in Flower City. His anti-heroic attributes include ignorance, laziness, rudeness, and conceit. Those are juxtaposed with insatiable curiosity, deeply-rooted kindness, ongoing enterprise, and a seemingly-endless pot of luck. He is highly reminiscent of the popular Russian [[folk]] hero ''[[Ivan the Fool]]''.
-*Gunka, Neznaika's friend
+*Gun'ka - Neznaika's best friend
+*Znaika (from Russian "I know") - the smartest of the shorties, often adopts the leadership role
-*Znaika is a boy who knows everything, a [[nerd]]
-*Vintik and Shpuntik, technicians
+*Vintik (from Russian "bolt") and Shpuntik - two mechanics
-*Guslya, a musician
+*Guslya - a musician
-*Tyubik, an artist
+*Tyubik (from Russian "tube") - a painter
-*Knopochka, a girl
+*Knopochka (from Russian "button") - a girl-shorty
-*Toropyzhka, a boy who hurries too much
+*Toropyzhka (from Russian "to hurry") - always in a hurry, likes to be first
-*Rasteryayka, a boy who always loses things
+*Rasteryayka (from Russian "to lose") - always loses things
-*Doctor Pilyulkin
+*Doctor Pilyulkin - a physician
-*Ponchik, likes to eat
+*Ponchik (from Russian "doughnut") - very chubby, likes to eat sweets
+*Siropchik (from Russian "little syrup") - very chubby, likes to drink carbonated water with syrup
-*Siropchik, likes sweet things
-*Pulka, a hunter
+*Pul'ka (from Russian "bullet") - a hunter
+*Bul'ka - Pul'ka's dog
-*Tsvetik, a poet
+*Tsvetik (from Russian "bloomer") - a poet
-*Bul'ka, a dog
-*Pachkulya Pyostrenky, always gets dirty
+*Pachkulya Pyostrenky (from Russian "dirty piebald") - always gets dirty
-*Tsirkul ([[compass]]), a long-legged, long-nosed bicyclist
+*Tsirkul (from Russian "compass"), a bicyclist
-*Vorchun, always grumbles
+*Vorchun (from Russian "to grumble") - always grumbles and complains
+*Molchun (from Russian "to be silent") - always very quiet
-*Molchun, speaks little
+===Green City Dwellers===
+Named for its abundance of trees. Only girl-shorties live here.
+*Medunitsa - a doctor girl-shorty, head of the Green City hospital
+*Sineglazka (from Russian "blue eyes") - a pretty blue-eyed girl-shorty
+*Snezhinka (from Russian "snowflake") - a pretty fair-skinned girl-shorty
+*Samotsvetik (from Russian "self-bloomer"), a poet girl-shorty
+*Zain'ka (from Russian "little rabbit") - a girl-shorty with an embroidered bunny on her dress
+*Belochka (from Russian "little squirrel") - a girl-shorty with an embroidered squirrel on her dress
+*Lastochka - a girl-shorty
-===Green City dwellers===
+===Kite City Dwellers===
+Named for its abundance of decorative kites. Only boy-shorties live here.
-Only girls live in this city: they do not like boys because all of them are naughty and live in Kite Cyty
+*Gvozdik (from Russian "nail") - a troublemaker
-*Medunitsa, a girl, a doctor
+*Bublik (from Russian "bagel") - a car driver
-*Sineglazka, a girl
+*Shurupchik (from Russian "screw") - an inventor
-*Snezhinka, a girl
+*Smekaylo - a writer
-*Samotsvetik, a girl
-===Kite City dwellers===
+==Plot Summaries==
-Boys-only city
-*Gvozdik, a boy
-*Bublik, a car driver
-*Shurupchik, a techician
-*Smekyalo, a writer
-==The Adventures of Neznaika and his Friends==
+===The Adventures of Neznaika and his Friends===
-==Neznaika in the Sunny Town==
+===Neznaika in the Sunny Town===
-==Neznaika on the Moon==
+===Neznaika on the Moon===
 ==External links==