Analysis of Satiric Devices in Neobyknovennye istorii iz &zhachek;izni goroda Kolokolamska by Il&soft;ja Il&soft;f and Evgenij Petrov
Anna
Tumarkin
Of the many satirical works of Il'ja Il&soft;f and Evgenij Petrov
only their two novels, Twelve Chairs (1927-1928) and
The Golden Calf (1929-1931) have been thoroughly analyzed
by scholars (&Shachek;&chachek;eglov). The writers' other works,
mostly short stories and feuilletons, are still relatively little
known and have not been subjects of literary criticism. In this paper
I will analyze satiric devices used by Il&soft;f and Petrov in the
series of short stories Neobyknovennye istorii iz &zhachek;izni
goroda Kolokolamska (1928–1929). On the basis of this
analysis I will draw a general schema that underlies the structure of
each story in the series. Stories and tales about towns inhabited by
fools have deep roots in world literature: from German tales about
Schildburgers (1598) to Saltykov-&Shachek;&chachek;edrin's
Istorii odnogo goroda (1869–1870). Il&soft;f and
Petrov follow this literary tradition by portraying a new generation
of fools, produced by the combination of two different
realities—the pre-Revolutionary Russian province and the Soviet
bureaucratic system. The authors create a mythical, but at the same
time amazingly realistic world of Soviet fools that incorporates all
the vices Il&soft;f and Petrov believe to be alien to Soviet
society. One of the main sources of comic effect is the
incompatibility between pre-Revolutionary and Soviet realities as well
as between the fantastic and realistic dimensions in which Kolokolamsk
exists. However, it is profoundly wrong to suggest that Il&soft;f and
Petrov ridicule Soviet Union. On the contrary, they only satirize
things that in their view hinder the development of the young
socialist state.
Henri Bergson writes: a comic meaning is invariably obtained
when an absurd idea is fitted into a well established form.
To
accomplish comic effect Il&soft;f and Petrov need not label citizens
of Kolokolamsk as fools. The satire becomes even sharper as a result
of juxtaposing the normal
people with their abnormal,
absurd behavior. Such juxtaposition is achieved both on the level of
plot and on the level of language. The authors create many structural
and linguistic hybrids that illustrate the contrast between the
logical and the absurd in Kolokolamsk. Structural hybrids include,
among others, confluence of classical literary motifs with Soviet
reality. Linguistic hybrids are manifested through numerous proper
names, for instance russko-ukrainskoe ob&shachek;&chachek;estvo
Get&soft; negramotnost&soft;!
or street names such as
Bol&soft;&shachek;aja Mestkomovskaja ulica.
In Neobyknovennye istorii iz &zhachek;izni goroda
Kolokolamska Il&soft;f and Petrov employ many other satiric
devices that are also characteristic of their other works. The
analysis of these devices sheds new light on the writers' artistic
method in the larger context of Russian and world literary
traditions.
Bergson, Henry. 1956. Laughter. In
Comedy. Garden City, New York: Doubleday Anchor
Books. 61–146.
Shcheglov, Y. About The Novels The Twelve Chairs
and The Golden Calf by I. Il&soft;f and
E. Petrov. Moscow: Panorama,1995.