Note of the Translators

It was our privilege to know Arkady Burshtein and to be part of his circle. Making his work available to an English-reading audience was both an honor and a tribute to a person from whom we received so much human and intellectual generosity. Drawn to, and drawing in, all kinds of creative people, he radiated the joy of effortless communication, taking genuine delight in others’ talents and accomplishments. Modest by nature, he showed no hint of stardom – yet he was a star. At our gatherings, he was often barely heard, choosing instead to play the gracious host, supporting others in sharing their gifts. It was his presence, and the visible pleasure he took in watching others’ presentations and performances, that made him the true heart and soul of his circle of friends.

Our contribution to Arkady’s memory is also inspired by our deep admiration for his amazing wife, Bella. Selflessly co-creating with him the warm and welcoming atmosphere of their evenings, she has since taken up the torch and continues this cherished tradition.

If one were to define Arkady’s interests and creative work, he was above all a passionate analyst of poetry, driven by a belief in the inexhaustible depth of its meanings. Searching for semantic connections led him everywhere: to languages, psychology, the subconscious, history, sociology, and cultures. All these spheres, like rays, converged on myth as their core – an original, universal substance, the beginning of beginnings. The title Reality of Myth may seem metaphorical, but for Arkady it was meant literally and defines the book’s fundamental idea.

In the Russian edition of the book, Vidary Levit is listed as co-author – a tribute to Arkady's characteristic generosity. Long-time friends united by many shared views, the two discussed Arkady's ideas for years, and Vidary's role as an engaged creative listener was deeply important to the maturation of this book.

Burshtein wrote the manuscript and set it aside in his early thirties, in 1985, while still in his native Ekaterinburg. Later, he produced a series of fascinating essays on Russian classical poetry, offering strikingly unexpected yet deeply convincing interpretations. He never sought publication, nor did he show concern for protecting his intellectual property. He simply shared his work with those capable of appreciating it. He was above such vanity – and, in the end, it was repaid. Remarkably, many years after he had settled in Israel, his friends and colleagues in Ekaterinburg, led by Elena Sozina, took it upon themselves to collect, edit, and publish his book, including Reality of Myth, selected essays, and letters of his friends discussing his interpretation of the Aristotelian catharsis.

The task of this translation presented some dilemmas. The first was the translation of Russian poetry extensively quoted by the author. Rather than using existing poetic translations, and certainly not attempting equirhythmic translations ourselves, we chose to provide interlinear translations as close as possible to the semantic series derived by the author from the vocabulary of the analyzed examples. However, there was one exception. In one of the chapters, he invited the reader to witness his experiment – composing a rhyming poem using given semantic series. In a striking anticipation of artificial intelligence, Burshtein demonstrated one of its future capabilities – “manually”. Today, the AI Claude has provided us with many such examples for this book.

The second dilemma was whether to follow his writing style. The Russian style in general, and the academic style in particular, contradicts the concise elegance of the English language. Nevertheless, wishing to preserve Arkady Burshtein's individual manner – very clear and precise both in thought and expression – we decided to retain its Russian flavor. We sincerely thank the creators of Claude for taking into account our most subtle requirements for achieving semantic accuracy in the translation.

Translation, as every new touch upon the academic text meant for another audience, involves elements of editing. Since the author broadly used foreign studies in their Russian translations, we strove to replace his quotations and references with either English-language originals or existing translations of Russian books into English.

Leah Burstein, Marina Ritzarev

March 2026, USA