Linkin' Park

The members of Linkin’ Park have become millionaires performing music any healthy quail could write for fourteen-year-old boys who have either never heard of Rage Against the Machine or prefer their antiestablishment rock watered-down like Mom’s lemonade.

And yet, despite my loathing, I possess the ability to hum along to half-a-dozen of their songs and even recite a few choruses––an anything-but-super power I developed by living with my host brother. Serioga is Linkin’ Park’s #1 fan east of Lincoln Park, the type of rabid devotee (we’ve all been one at some point) for whom listening to the music is just a tiny sliver of the pie of adoration. The others are drawing and redrawing their stylized monicker; downloading photographs and videos of them playing concerts or just sitting around being cool (he recently realized he could photograph these photographs with my camera); painting their name on his bicycle; and wearing LP gear.

From time to time he also asks me to translate random bits of profanity, which I’ve figured out are mostly Linkin’ Park lyrics. Of all the expressions of his love, this one interests me the most. Think about it: aside from what I translate, he can’t understand a single word they say. His favorite band! It’s all image and music to him. And yet judging by his manner of dressing, his antagonism toward school and his mother, and the sense I get of his hobbies and friends, I’d say he’s got the gist of it. Lyrics would simply reinforce and clarify what he’s already gleaned from context––from the kind of people who listen to Linkin’ Park, where the band advertises, how the members act in their videos/photos, etc.

My brother's love of Linkin' Park strikes me as a case study for two much larger subjects I've been chewing on: the place of the English language in St. Petersburg, and American imported culture in St. Petersburg. Consider the following observations:

1. Whereas in the US, where people learn foreign languages for primarily personal reasons––I’ve never heard “I’m learning Russian/Spanish/French/Italian for the money,” even it has to do with their career. The exception is probably Chinese.––Russians learn English, by and large, to make more money, either by emigrating or working for a foreign firm.

2. English has firmly established itself as the second language of Russia, but it’s often more than that. Sometimes it’s mixed with Russian, as in a prominent advertisement for Tuborg beer which plays on the word for ‘party’ (‘vecherinka’), using ‘vechergreenka,’ a reference to Tuborg’s signature green bottles. Other times it supersedes it, as when the entire advertisement is in English. In addition, many imported goods have only English on the packaging.

3.Swearing in English is one of the coolest things you can do if you’re between nine and fifteen years old.

4. Russian license plates say “Russian Federation” in English, not Russian.

5. Business and technical words (computing especially) are almost all of English origin.

6. English-language graffiti is perhaps more common than Russian-language. American rappers (50 Cent), commercial brands, and sexual topics are common.

7. There’s now a Russian version of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” which imitates everything from the format to the host’s delivery to the jingle. The big exception: no shots at the president.

8. English-language films such as “The Borne Identity,” “The Silence of the Lambs,” and even “Catwoman” get prime-time slots on television, and there are entire channels which play dubbed programming almost exclusively (especially animated shows like South Park, Daria, Bevis and Butthead, etc.).