JOSEPH BRODSKY
529
their shrines, were a bit more populated than ours. We are one way
or another, in a sense, awful agnostics.
But there are agnostics and agnostics. I would say that the poet
worships perhaps only one thing in the final analysis, and that has
no embodiment except in words, that is ... language. His attitude
towards the Supreme Deity who is absent is more of a reproach for
His absence than a pure jeering or else hosannas. Perhaps I am
modern in that I am living in my own time and to some extent I re–
flect - what I write reflects - the sensibility of the people who speak
my language towards their reality. In that respect, of course, I am
modern. What else could I be? Old-fashioned? Conservative? Well,
I'm conservative in terms of form, perhaps. In terms of content, in
terms of the attitude towards reality, and the sensibility, I am
fairly- well, I
hope-au courant .
DM:
You mentioned the polarization of good and evil. Do you think
there's a blurring of those categories now?
JB:
Not for an attentive eye, not for an attentive soul. But blurring
the distinctions has become, indeed, an industry. It's done either de–
liberately by the forces of evil- for instance, by a certain political
doctrine and its advocates, by its propaganda outfits - or it's done by
honest, self-questioning people . But ultimately it's done by those
who thrive on questioning and compromising things, the smart
alecks who try to turn every idea, every reality inside out. And, of
course, there's a great deal of gray area now. Well, that's fine by me.
The greater the blur is, the more glory to you if you manage to sort it
out. It's always been the case-the blur, that is. But today, given the
population explosion, we have a quantum increase in devil's ad–
vocates as well. Doubt nowadays is more in vogue than convictions.
To put it kindly-doubt is a conviction. Basically, we live in a period
which is quite similar in tenor to certain stages of the Enlighten–
ment.
DM:
The scrutiny of all the preconceptions ...
JB :
...
of all the preconceived notions indeed. Except, a Russian
differs here . The results of scrutiny by a Russian may yield results
totally different from those of his Western counterparts. For exam–
ple, during the Enlightenment, scientific evidence led people to the
denial of Supreme Being. Certain Russians-for example, Lomon–
osov and Derzhavin - were saying exactly the opposite, that the
abundance of this evidence testified to the intricacy of the world,
which is a divine creation.
DM:
As a poet, you're conspicuous in that you often use religious
