The Russian Smile is a neuromuscular Begleiterscheinung of the Soviet empire's destruction, but all people who have problems that they come to enjoy by purporting that they do, recognize it and smile back. It's crooked with shining, squinting eyes, and I see it whenever I tell a story about petty crime or alcoholism to people of a certain demographic from those countries.
Because the Soviet empire, Slavic countries, and the Russian Empire are all close to contiguous, and because I have not visited Central Asia, it is still hard for me to delineate where it can be found. My hypothesis, formed by my travels so far in Poland, Ukraine and Russia, is that you could evince it without trouble from people whose personalities were mature in 1989, in any place ever occupied by the Soviet Army, but not Cuba. You won't see it on childrens' faces, or on teens'.
This blog is about my encounters with the Russian Smile, my recognition of it in myself, and will include stories of my travels to find its exact borders, and most importantly its future.
You should post some pics of this smile. I'm not entirely joking about this.
ReplyDeleteI know photos illustrate in a way words can't, but don't have any photos of the phenomenon yet. Maybe as the blog gains more readers (and I think it will, as I have a multi-hundred page backlog of stories) people may send me their photos of the smile, which I will post (with credits).
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