Oral Narrative in Modern Russian Fiction
David
Macphail
This paper will discuss the problem of narrative structure in
Venedikt Erofeev's poema
Moskva-Petu&shachek;ki. Although much important work has
been done by Russian and Western scholars in recent years (in
particular the study by Svetlana Gaiser-&Shachek;nitmann, and the
commentaries by Jurij Levin and Eduard Vlasov), research has been
largely directed towards uncovering the work's many subtexts and
exploring its rich mesh of allusions. I wish to investigate the use
made by the author of the literary and extra-literary genre of the
anecdote. The theoretical framework for my study will center on Baxtin
(Problemy re&chachek;evyx &zhachek;anrov) and Tynjanov
(O literaturnoj èvoljucii). Many important
observations made on spoken and written modes of communication by
Walter Ong (Orality and Literacy) will inform my analysis
of Erofeev's text.
My analysis will center on a close reading of two sections of the
narrative. First, my attention will be directed towards the employment
of historical anecdotes by Veni&chachek;ka, the protagonist, and his
interlocutors in their debate on the role of alcohol in the lives of
famous writers and composers (the chapter
Esino—Fryzevo). I intend to explore not only
the function of the exchanges at a primary level (as a mimetic
representation of an agonistic oral polemic), but also at a secondary
level (as a device used by the author to provide an implicit diagetic
commentary on the narrative events and thematic concerns present in
the text). The second passage I wish to discuss concerns the
protagonist's descriptions of his (evidently fictitious) travels
around America and Europe (beginning in the chapter
Pavlovo-Posad—Nazar&soft;evo). Although many
possible components of the intertextual palimpsest which underlie the
narration have been uncovered by scholars (Vlasov, in particular, has
done ground-breaking work in this area), little has been said of the
similarities between Veni&chachek;ka's narrative and the folkloric
(i.e., oral) genre of the Munchausen tale. This form is included in
the section on anecdotes in Aarne's classification of folk narratives
(subsequently translated and enlarged by Stith Thompson). It has
previously informed a number of works in European literature (cf. Fra
Cipolla's story in the Decameron VI, 10). My analysis
will not only explore the content of Veni&chachek;ka's description of
his voyages in relation to this generic form, but also examine how the
reactions of his listeners (curiosity, disbelief etc.) affect his
narration.
Finally, I wish to consider how the two sections of the work
discussed relate to broader questions of narrative and theme raised by
Moskva-Petu&shachek;ki. My treatment of these topics will
take as its general starting point work by Genette in the field of
narratology and build on the findings of Cynthia Simmons's analysis of
the text in question in Their Father's Voice.