On the eve of the 223rd anniversary of the birth of the famous Russian poet Pushkin, the Fifth Russian Poetry Festival of Nankai University was held in the 111 Academic Lecture Hall of the College of Foreign Languages. Professor Wang Lidan, Head of the Russian Department, Associate Professor Jiang Min and lecturers Huang Mingtuo and Xu Lili attended and served as judges for the Russian Poetry Recitation Competition.
The Poetry Festival for this year retained the previous two forms of individual recitation and group recitation. The contestants were divided into three groups according to their grades, and each group would compete for the first, second and third prizes according to the overall performance of the contestants. The first group of 2021 undergraduates from the Russian Department recited the classic poems of famous Russian poets such as Pushkin, Lermontov and Yesenin for the audience. They were full of emotions and energy, showing the grandeur and depth of Russian culture and conveying their own unique understanding of love. The second group of contestants was from the 2020 class of the Russian Department. Their steady typhoons and sincere emotions brought the audience into the hidden inner worlds of poets such as Mayakovsky and Akhmatova. The last group of contestants in the Poetry Recitation Competition came from the 2021 master class of the Russian Department. They were sometimes whispered, sometimes high-pitched or sad or pathetic, conveying the unique connotation of the works of poets such as Simonov and Brodsky. Their soulful and natural recitation left a deep impression on the audience. All contestants’ pure and standardized Russian pronunciation, graceful typhoon and precise and rich emotional expression won the audience’s applause. In addition, Xu Lili, a young teacher in the Russian Department, brought Pushkin’s classic poem “If by Life You Were Deceived” to the audience after the recitation of the 18 contestants. The wonderful performance pushed the atmosphere to a climax.
After fierce competition, in the end, 2021 undergraduate Chen Xi, 2020 undergraduate Cheng Qi and Zhao Zijing and 2021 master Zhang Ziwei won the first prize for their wonderful presentations. Other contestants won the second and third prizes respectively.
In the concluding remarks, Wang Lidan said that the Russian Poetry Festival is a traditional event of the Russian Department and has been successfully held for five sessions so far. She fully affirmed and highly praised the performance of the contestants this year. Wang Lidan pointed out that each group of contestants had its own characteristics, and the poems selected were very classic. There was genuine emotion in the recitation. In addition, she also emphasized the importance of a “poetic heart” and encouraged students to study hard and take Russian as their future career direction.
It is reported that the competition system of the Poetry Festival Poetry Recitation Competition had more adjustments and innovations than previous ones. For the first time, the contestants were divided into groups according to their grades and competed for awards according to their groups. The participation of young teachers enriched the content of the poetry festival, activated the atmosphere of the poetry festival and had a positive guiding role for students. The practice has shown that the successful holding of the Russian Poetry Festival will help students understand literary classics, improve their humanistic quality and promote cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries.
