To make bad and bad things funny means to depreciate, reduce it, to induce in people the desire to get rid of negative traits. Satirical literature, like no other, has a strong educational impact, although, of course, not everyone likes to recognize themselves in heroes. satirical comedy or fables. Any satirical work: a fable, a comedy, a fairy tale, a novel - has a number of specific features that are unique to them. Firstly, this is a very large degree of conventionality of the depicted, the proportions real world in a satirical work are displaced and distorted, the satirist consciously focuses only on negative sides reality, which appear in the work in an exaggerated, often fantastic, form. Remember Gogol's confession that in The Inspector General the writer "wanted to collect everything bad in Russia and laugh at everything at once." But this, according to the writer, is “a laughter visible to the world” through “invisible, unknown to him tears”, the satirist mourns the lost ideal of a person in his caricatured, often repulsive heroes. A satirical writer must have a special talent for creating comic, i.e. funny, in literary work. These are a variety of comic plot collisions, illogical, absurd situations, the use of speaking names and surnames, etc. The most important artistic techniques that allow you to create satirical images are the following (see diagram 6).
Irony(eironeia Greek, mockery, pretense) - a method of ridicule when direct and hidden meaning what has been said contradict each other, when under the mask of imaginary seriousness lies a sharp, caustic mockery.
The mayor Borodavkin "led the campaign against the arrears, and burned thirty-three villages and, with the help of these measures, recovered the arrears of two rubles and a half."
M. Saltykov-Shchedrin. "History of a City"
Character dialogues that use irony are also a common technique in satirical works, comic effect arises because one of the characters does not feel the ironic overtones.
Sarcasm(sakasmos in Greek, I literally tear meat) - a caustic, cruel mockery, expressed directly, without
half hints.
Gloomy-Burcheev - one of the mayors in the "History of a City" by M. Saltykov-Shchedrin - is described exclusively in sarcastic tones:
"Before the eyes of the viewer rises the purest type of idiot who has made some kind of gloomy decision and swore an oath to carry it out."
“I came two weeks later and was received by some girl with eyes slanted to her nose from constant lies.”
M. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita"
Hyperbola- exaggeration, bright and, perhaps, one of the most important satirical devices, since exaggeration, exaggeration of negative traits, is the law satirical image In fact, it is no coincidence that V. Mayakovsky called satire "a look at the world through a magnifying glass."
Hyperbole can be verbal (“bad news”), but more common is extended hyperbole, when the injection of many similar details exaggerates some feature to the point of absurdity.
Entire episodes are often built according to the laws of hyperbolization, for example, the famous “scene of lies” from The Inspector General, when in ten minutes Khlestakov made himself from a petty official into the director of a department, who subordinates “couriers, couriers, couriers ... you can imagine thirty-five thousand one couriers!”
Hyperbole is often combined with the grotesque and fantasy.
Fiction(phantastike Greek. the ability to imagine) - the image of absolutely impossible, illogical, incredible situations and heroes.
In satirical works, fantasy is very often used together with the grotesque and hyperbole, it is often impossible to separate them, as, for example, in V. Mayakovsky's poem “The Sitting Ones”: “I see: half of the people are sitting. O devilry! Where is the other half?!”
Grotesque(grotesque fr. bizarre, intricate) - the most complex satirical device, which consists in an unexpected, at first glance, impossible combination of high and low, funny and terrible, beautiful and ugly.
The grotesque contains elements of fantasy and exaggeration, therefore it contains a very strong impulse of emotional and psychological impact on the reader, the grotesque strikes, excites the imagination, calling to look at reality from a new, often paradoxical point of view. The grotesque was especially often resorted to in his work by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin and M.A. Bulgakov.
Sometimes the plot of the entire work can be built on a grotesque situation (M. Bulgakov's story "Heart of a Dog").
GENRE PECULIARITY OF V. VOINOVICH'S SATIRICAL NOVEL
E.Yu. Alisova
Russian University friendship of peoples st. Miklukho-Maklaya, 6, Moscow, Russia, 117198
The article is devoted genre originality satirical novel in the work of V. Voinovich. Characteristic is the fundamental freedom of the writer in turning to genre forms: the anecdote novel (in the trilogy about Chonkin), the combination of several anti-utopias (in Moscow 2042), the emergence of the “book of life” (“The Idea”).
Keywords: Voinovich, Chonkin, "Moscow 2042", idea, genre, satire.
Vladimir Voinovich celebrated his 80th birthday in 2012. The recent hero of the day is not just a writer, but a satirist, and this characteristic - a satirist - is not complementary, but decisive for his work. The satirist differs from any other writer in his keen perception of the alogism of contemporary reality. This is an innate property underlying the gift: to see the absurdity of what is happening around. Voinovich himself speaks about it this way: “I’m just writing ... One critic noted my first story with a large scolding article, in which it was written literally the following: “Voinovich adheres to the poetics of portraying life as it is, alien to us.” I liked it very much, and I continued to try to portray life as it is, but where the curve would lead me, I never cared.”
This is how the characteristic of Voinovich is characterized creative manner- the desire to neglect the canons and dogmas, which led to the genre originality of the writer's satirical novels, in particular the trilogy "The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of a Soldier Ivan Chonkin", the anti-utopia "Moscow 2042" and the novel "The Idea".
Turning to the genre originality of a work, it must be borne in mind that the nature of the genre receives various explanations in literary criticism, and this finds expression in understanding the relationship between form and content, correlation artistic world works with life reality, a way of expressing the author's ideas. This is especially important when considering non-canonical genres, the identification of features of which presents a certain difficulty.
The most general genre definition for the works of V. Voinovich considered here is the term "novel". Fundamental incompleteness and freedom in development and state of the art this genre was emphasized by M.M. Bakhtin, noting that “the study of other genres is analogous to the study of dead languages; the study of the novel is the study of living languages, and young ones at that.
The novel has a dual content: firstly, its own, thanks to the interest in the development of the personality, and secondly, it came to him from other genres (epics, idylls, satirical stories, etc.). This allows us to conclude that the novel is "syncretistic". The novel combines the features of many genres. The “syncretism” of the novel fundamentally distinguishes it from other genres, which, when compared with it, reveal their own “specialization”, focus on certain aspects of life, while the novel represents life in its diversity and inconsistency.
Due to the breadth of the term "novel", it is often accompanied by an additional characteristic: "autobiographical, military, detective, documentary... political, adventure, satirical, sentimental...".
The most adequate characterization of Voinovich's novel "The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of a Soldier Ivan Chonkin" is a satirical clarification. What makes it so is the accusatory pathos that permeates the work. Here the word "satire" is used in its broadest sense - as "the negative attitude of the creator to the subject of the image".
In addition, the novel about the soldier Chonkin is, by definition of the author, an anecdote novel. At first glance, genres that are not just distant from each other, but almost opposed, are connected in this way. However, Voinovich convinces that an anecdotal incident can form the basis of a novel narrative that exposes the vices of contemporary life.
Voinovich, in the preface to the third novel of the trilogy, explains the meaning of his own genre definition in this way: “By the way, I once designated the genre of writing as a novel-anecdote ... this designation was just a trick, a hint that the thing was not serious and there was nothing special about it. quibble."
Let's follow the writer's advice: let's not find fault, but note that despite the seeming frivolity underlying the narrative, the anecdote pursues extremely serious goals.
The plot around which the narrative is built - a soldier is forgotten at the place of his guard duty - is anecdotal in itself: there is, so to speak, an ideal genre for a satirical depiction of life.
Joke - folk genre, it is based on humor, with which “wisdom coincides ... so much so that wisdom is contained in humor” . Initially being a story about a private incident in the life of a certain historical person, the anecdote gradually turned to the ordinary person (let us recall here the words of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin about “the soil of the people” as “the only fruitful one” for satire).
Depending on the behavior of the hero in the joke, various traits can be shown. national character: from wisdom and resourcefulness to laziness, narrow-mindedness, drunkenness, etc. It is this property that allows the anecdote to become not only an acceptable, but also a completely organic form for a satirical work, because the anecdote makes it possible to present life in the most vivid form, which is “fantastic in itself” (V. Voinovich). typical hero from the people, couple
the doxality of situations, the dynamism of the development of the action, the unpredictability and unexpectedness of the resolution of certain conflicts of a comic nature - the writer borrows all these techniques from an anecdote and uses them to the full when creating a satirical novel.
In fact, the task of satire is similar to the task good joke: exposing vices, it contributes to the establishment of norms and harmony in life: "satire is a figurative denial of modern reality, which necessarily includes - in one form or another, with one or another degree of specificity and clarity - and the positive moment of affirming a better reality ". The anecdote is mainly related to satire by the fact that here, we repeat, the idea of the norms of life that are violated in reality itself is restored.
This genre definition - an anecdote - is also due to the fact that the whole novel about Chonkin is built on anecdotal situations: Nyura falls "dead" when she sees in the sky "a large iron bird with a skewed beak", which in reality turns out to be an ordinary plane; here Chonkin treats himself to moonshine on a visit to Gladyshev, and then finds out from what that moonshine was made, and runs into the yard.
Thus, the anecdote also acts here as an auxiliary tool in the construction of an integral novel. And if in some situations (for example, the scene of Nyura fainting at the sight of an airplane), an anecdotal incident is a manifestation of a comic one, then in other cases the anecdote serves as a plot-forming element. So, for example, the secretary of the district committee Revkin, talking on the phone with the chairman of the collective farm Golubev, heard that Chonkin had seized the entire department of Captain Milyaga along with the "gang", although the chairman actually said "with a woman." And now a whole regiment is sent to capture Chonkin!
However, all this is characteristic to a greater extent of the first part of the novel. The second book, and especially the third, is more of an epic narrative with notes of journalism. The writer's approach to the depicted is changing, creative method: comical and anecdotal situations practically disappear, the author's satirically caustic remarks are replaced by a narrative that is still sarcastic, but devoid, however, of figurative content, the author's speech takes up much more space than at the beginning. Here it is appropriate to quote the words of E. Ponomarev: “In the second ... part, the analytical element unfolds to its fullest, suppresses the anecdote and begins to determine the form of the text. In a word, the closer to the end, the more about the essence Soviet life and the fate of the motherland. Just like in "War and Peace" ". And this is only about two novels, and in the third book these trends only intensify. Thus, within the framework of the trilogy, the author's approach to creating a work changes: the anecdote novel acquires the properties of a satirical novel, and then - epic narrative only with elements of satire.
Now let's turn to the novel "Moscow 2042", which is characterized by the features of a dystopian genre.
“Anti-utopia is a social genre. This is a bomb that falls only on organized humanity, on a society that lives according to one or another established socio-political laws, on a society that has developed a certain lifestyle ... Anti-utopia fights not against accidents, but against patterns. Satire as a whole struggles not with accidents but with patterns - it is not for nothing that the dystopia genre has become the most popular for satirical narration (remember Swift, Orwell, Zamyatin).
« fantasy novel V. Voinovich, who continues and develops the pro-Myatin-Orwellian tradition of dystopia, further sharpens the postmodernist discourse in the work of V. Voinovich; it is built on a demonstrative mixture of genres and styles, fundamentally eclectic - there are elements of detective and melodrama, erotica and grotesque, political satire and science fiction, parodies and buffoonery".
The dystopia "Moscow 2042" is stereoscopic: we see not the only social structure that the author does not accept, but we meet a vivid description of three systems: MOSCOREP, the "empire" of Sim Simych in Toronto and monarchical Russia under the rule of Sim. In addition, the image of Moscow, from which main character left. This last "dystopia" is the closest to reality, the least fantastic, and is given in the form of the protagonist's reminiscences or the stories of the communians that they heard from older relatives.
In Moscow in 2042, communist ideals are brought to the point of absurdity. It is interesting how V. Voinovich “shows” us MOSCOREP: first, through the perception of the protagonist of the writer Kartsev (who, as they say, is in “ culture shock”), and further - with the help of explanations of the “new” Muscovites living in this time and taking everything that happens for granted. Thanks to this technique, we get acquainted not only with the external changes that have taken place in the capital, but also with a new type of thinking and worldview of people (which is typical for the genre of the novel).
In Toronto, Karnavalov builds his life in accordance with his own utopia: he acts like a gentleman, forbids the use of technological achievements, introduces corporal punishment, defines Russian national clothes as a “form”, etc. And even foreign words he replaces it with Russians, calling the plane a "flyer" and newspapers "readers". And although Sim’s views are opposite to the ideology of communism, but when he comes to power, only the form changes, the essence remains practically unchanged: God-fearing Christian Leopold Zilberovich. "All the rest of Our gracious subjects are invited ... to be vigilant and intolerant of all manifestations of the false and vile communist ideology." And if Moskorepe wrote feuilletons about “young people who wear long trousers and are fond of bourgeois dances,” now Karan-valov publishes a decree “on the mandatory wearing of long clothes.”
And Dzerzhin, who is now called Druzhin, serves the new autocrat in the same way as he served Genialissimo: “They need specialists like me. And not only them. Any regime. In other words, the most important change is in the length of the trousers, and those principles (hard surveillance, dictatorship, etc.) that the communist government followed remain relevant even under Karnavalov's rule.
The novel also shows the "rudiments" of other utopias: the scientist Edison's idea of eternal life, the utopia of a young left-wing terrorist. These characters pay for their views with their lives, so their utopias are not developed on the pages of the novel. However, with the help of these heroes, Voinovich shows how attractive the idea of radical change is for people. The development of other utopias in dystopia demonstrates how dangerous this idea is.
Thus, the development of several storylines the transition from utopia to dystopia in one book plays very important role to implement the author's intention: in the novel "Moscow 2042" a sentence is passed not on any particular system, but on any authoritarian regime that runs counter to humanitarian values. Whatever it is, it leads to suppression anyway. human personality, and what fashion will be considered opposing the regime - these are already details.
The novel "The Idea" is a work where all existing genre norms are destroyed: in relation to them, the author is absolutely free. “This book does not fit into any genre: it is partly a novel, partly a memoir, in general, neither one nor the other. Parts of the book are independent, self-sufficient and interchangeable ... as for the end, it is definitely not planned, but the last word written by the author in this life should be the last in the book.
The Concept intertwines chapters that tell about different stages the life of the protagonist, as much as possible coinciding with the author. The chronology is not observed, several lines replace one another. They also alternate with the development of the plot of the main book by V. Voinovich - the trilogy about Chonkin - and the writings of a certain Eliza Barskaya. Such a non-trivial, completely postmodern construction of the book leads to a stereoscopic image of reality. "The Book of a Lifetime" truly reflects the life of its creator: as a chain of life events, stories and meetings, and inner work- creativity, which is the most important part of the artist's life. And it is this author's task - to show his life in all its fullness and diversity - that determines the genre diversity of "The Idea". “This book, if we compare it with a body of water, is not a river with sources and a mouth, but a lake that can be entered from any direction.”
Summarizing the above, we formulate the main genre features satirical novel by V. Voinovich. main feature is a fundamental game with genres, syncretism, the features of which are determined by the idea of the writer, his plan (in "Chonkin" an anecdote reveals the alogism of the structure of society; in "Moscow 2042" the combination of several utopias within one work works to prove the author's idea that any of the regimes is doomed,
which is headed by a dictator - whatever theories he may be guided by; in "Design" weave genre forms- novel, memoir, short story, erotica, autobiography - embodies the idea of creating a "book of a lifetime".
A characteristic feature of all novels by V. Voinovich is also the appeal to fantasy as a genre-forming element. Fiction forms the basis of a dystopia about Moscow of the future (dystopia and fantasy are inseparable). The Chonkin trilogy also uses fantasy elements. The dreams of the protagonist are as fantastic as possible: in the first dream of Chonkin, Stalin descends from heaven in a woman's dress, in the second he lies on a tray on the table during the celebration of the wedding of pigs. However, along with fantastic circumstances, typical details are emphasized everywhere: a mustache, a pipe in his hand, a voice with a Georgian accent. This interweaving of real details, events, characters with elements of fantasy becomes characteristic feature trilogy.
In "The Idea" the hero (the writer Voinovich) meets and engages in dialogues with the characters he created and with himself in his youth. Here, fantasy also works to embody the idea: the author sees his life in length and at the same time in the combination of both temporary layers and reality and fiction. After all, before us is the intention of the Writer, the Artist, and for him his own fiction can be more real than what surrounds him. BUT real life, in turn, strikes the receptive satirist so much that he cannot accept its alogism and expresses this contradiction on the pages of his novels. “From the very beginning they told me: well, you’re too much, you already turned it down. I even softened sometimes, because what really happened, in written form, seemed incredible. It's just that our life is fantastic, it is a satire in itself. For a satirist - fertile material ".
And Voinovich, like no one else, knows how to see this “material”, marvel at it and express it on the pages of his works so that the reader can feel the “fantastic” life to the end. At the same time, the freedom of genre embodiment corresponds to the tasks of the satirist and determines the originality of his style.
LITERATURE
"Arguments and Facts" No. 27 (1080) dated 07/04/2001.
Bakhtin M.M. Epic and novel (On the methodology of the study of the novel) // Bakhtin M.M. Literary-critical articles. - M., 1986.
Khalizev V.E. Theory of Literature - M.: Higher School.
Kozhinov V.V. Novel // Literary Encyclopedia terms and concepts / Ed. A.N. Nikolyukin.
Bakhtin M.M. Satire // Literary encyclopedia of terms and concepts / Ed. A.N. Nikolyukin.
Voinovich V. Life and Extraordinary Adventures of the Soldier Ivan Chonkin. Book III. Displaced person. - M.: Eksmo, 2007.
Terts A. An anecdote in a joke // Terts A. (Sinyavsky A.) Journey to the Black River and other works. - M., 1999.
Saltykov-Shchedrin M.E. About art. Selected articles, reviews and statements.
Ponomarev E.R. From Chonkin to Chonkin // Neva. - 2004. - No. 3.
Obukhov V. Modern Russian dystopia // Literary review. - 1998.- No. 3.
Brusilovskaya L., Kondakov V. Voinovich V.N. // Russian writers of the 20th century. Biographical Dictionary. Ch. ed. and compiler P.A. Nikolaev - M.: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 2000.
Voinovich V. Moscow 2042. - M.; SP All Moscow, 1990.
Voinovich V. Concept. - M., 1995.
Voinovich V. I did not leave Russian literature anywhere // Russian wealth. Journal of one author. Vladimir Voinovich. - 1994. - No. 1 (5).
GENRE PECULIARITY OF VLADIMIR VOINOVICH "S SATIRICAL NOVEL
Peoples" Friendship University of Russia Miklukho-Maklaya str., 6. Moscow, Russia, 117198
The subject of this article is genre peculiarity of Vladimir Voinovich's satirical novels. Liberty of genre forms is characteristic for the author "s works: "a novel-anecdote" (in the trilogy about the soldier Chonkin), combination of several utopias (in "Moscow 2042"), creation of " the book of the whole life" ("The Design").
Key words: Voinovich, Chonkin, "Moscow 2042", idea, a genre satire.
It is customary to judge the maturity of satirical and humorous literature, its aesthetic quality by the level of development of prose. AT prose genres the satirist is given the opportunity to unfold a wide panorama of modern reality, draw a multi-colored picture of morals, reflect the struggle of the new with the old in all its complexity. Not without reason the greatest masters of the satirical art of the word gravitated toward the epic, acted as novelists. To be convinced of this, one has only to name the immortal books "Don Quixote", "Gargantua and Pantagruel", "Gulliver's Travels", " Dead Souls". AT Soviet literature successful attempts were made to create large satirical canvases on modern material.
In the 1920s and early 1930s, A. Tolstoy, I. Ehrenburg, Yu. Olesha, V. Kataev searched in this direction. As a feuilletonist and playwright, V. Kataev, the author of the book “The Lonely Sail Turns White,” imbued with light lyricism, gave a lot of energy and talent to the muse of fiery satire. The collection "Peas Against the Wall" resurrects this glorious page in the biography of V. Kataev. A humorous stream, subtle irony, a sly smile color all the work of this great artist, who, by the way, was " godfather» Ilya Ilf and Evgenia Petrova.
Ilya Ilf (left) and Evgeny Petrov.
Illustration for the novel by I. Ilf and E. Petrov "The Golden Calf".
The authors of the novels The Twelve Chairs (1928) and The Golden Calf (1931) deserve love and recognition a wide range Soviet and foreign readers. Ilf and Petrov, having conceived a great story, turned, it would seem, to a topic as old as the world. The thirst for wealth, an insatiable and irrepressible passion for money overwhelm the characters of these novels, determine the behavior and actions of Ostap Bender and his “comrades-in-arms”. "The Twelve Chairs" and "The Golden Calf" are unique, fundamentally innovative works in world literature, by no means similar to, say, a traditional picaresque novel. In the years of the great socialist reorganization of the world and human souls, a reassessment of values takes place. Convincingly and witty, Ilf and Petrov talk about the collapse of the old psychology, about the irreversible processes that lead to the death of the bourgeois world, based on the anti-human laws of individualism. A gallery of brilliantly outlined types - fragments of the system shattered by the revolution - passes before the reader's eyes. Laughing at them, we are convinced: there is no return to the past! The main character of the novel is Ostap Bender, a swindler and swindler. The authors treat him with irony, but their satire is not directed against Ostap alone. Next to this enterprising, broken, resourceful, energetic and witty man, "the great strategist", his insignificant "colleagues" are swarming around. Ostap is several heads taller than yesterday's gentlemen who went into internal emigration, as well as the newly-minted bourgeois - Nepmen and "underground millionaires." The pursuit of the jewels hidden in one of the twelve chairs was the pursuit of a ghost. The future turned out to be a mirage, which Bender painted for himself in rainbow colors, dreaming of getting a million. In the end, he also realizes that there is real life but she passes him by. In our country, working people are happy and respected, but Koreiko, with his millions acquired by fraudulent means, is disgusting, pitiful and ridiculous ...
"The Twelve Chairs" and "The Golden Calf" in their own way reflected real life at a certain stage of the country's development. For a long time there are no "crow settlements", many types and phenomena captured by satirists have disappeared. But far from all the "dark spots" of the past have yet been removed. The novels of Ilf and Petrov teach to unmistakably recognize the old in the new, be it petty-bourgeois narrow-mindedness, philistine stupidity, greed, inertia. The pages that expose bureaucracy, opportunism, careerism, hack-work and simply stupidity in its various manifestations have not lost their sharpness.
New generations of readers grow up, and the novels of Ilf and Petrov become their favorite books. What is the secret of the unfading youth of these works? Cheerfully, witty and at ease, writers talk with the reader about very important things - about the meaning of life, about the goal human existence, clearly reveal the advantages of the new, socialist system, new morality Soviet people.
The essence of the phenomenon of satire is to denounce human vices. Prior to Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian literature of the 19th century was undergoing a transformation of genres, there were such varieties of the novel as family-household, psychological, philosophical, social. Already in the "Hero of Our Time" elements of the moral-philosophical and psychological novel, later they also appear in "Fathers and Sons", "On the Eve".
Shchedrin continues the line of development social novel, which, according to the classification of literary critics, existed of three types: folk, about new people and socio-political. are the development of novels of precisely the latter type, which, moreover, have the peculiarity that they were essay-type novels (“Abroad”, “Mr. Provincial essays"," Gentlemen of Tashkent). Genre principles of these novels: 1) staging actual problems modernity, in all works this is given special attention. 2) the absence of a plot as such, hence the fragmentation of the narrative, sketchy and kaleidoscopic. The novel unity in the "History of a City" is that all the mayors are different, but their essence is the same, there are images of the people and the narrator. 3) features of the chronotope (artistic time and space) - conditional, approximate time and place of action. The exact time is indicated (from 1731 to 1826), but intentional confusion is visible in the novel, there are anachronisms ( Railway, telegraph, clock and organ master from the 19th century moved to the 18th). In the traditional novel, the time is clearly marked (for example, Kirsanov is waiting for Arkady on May 20, 1859). The place of action in a satirical novel is conditional, comparable with Gogol - Petersburg, with Pushkin - Moscow, and with Saltykov-Shchedrin - Glupov, district provincial city next to Byzantium. 4) system of images: there is a problem in the traditional novel goodie, here it is absent, but there are generalized mass images. The ideal of Saltykov-Shchedrin - an honest, decent official who thinks about the people, a strong-willed and active person - is shown "under the counter". The originality of the narrator: four voices (an archivist-chronicler, a publisher, in some places a narrator), the narration is in the first person. From a social point of view, the narrator is far from the author's views, he is the object and tool of satire. 5) the predominance of satirical devices - hyperbole, grotesque, fantasy. 6) parody. 7) controversy - with historians Solovyov, Pypin, Pogodin, Karamzin, rejection of their historical concept. There is also a controversy with ideological opponents - liberals, populists, Slavophiles, Westerners; with literary opponents - for example, Tolstoy poeticizes the qualities of the people, while Saltykov-Shchedrin has rejection in this respect; the presence of inserted episodes (dreams - “Abroad”, an anecdote about Glinka and Kukolnik - “Lords of Tashkent”, a parable about creditors in the “History of a City”, the meaning of which is that the Foolovites are waiting until all creditors become reasonable.
M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin "History of one city"
I. The history of the creation and publication of the novel. "Glupovsky" cycle of the early 1860s. early 1860s (essays "Literary Writers", "Slander", "Our Foolov Affairs", "Stupid and Foolovites", "Folupov Debauchery", "Our Provincial Day"). City of Foolov as a toponymic generalization.
II. A thousand-year history of Russia as an object of satirical reflection in the "History of a City".
1. Genre and compositional originality of the book:
a) Analyze the features of the construction of the "History of one city". Pay attention to the narrative (narrative) specifics of the work. Explain why the writer introduces two narrative plans - the chronicler-archivist and the publisher (give examples). Does the author's voice sound in the book?
b) Which genre definition of "The History of a City" seems to you the most accurate: novel, chronicle, satire? (suggest your options).
2. Parody in the text of the chronicle legend about the calling of the Varangians and historical concepts about the origin of Russian statehood (S.M. Solovieva, N.I. Kostomarova, M.P. Pogodina). Please provide relevant passages.
3. History of Russia as real basis Shchedrin's grotesque:
a) Why did Saltykov claim that he wrote “not historical”, but “completely ordinary” satire? (See: Letter to the Editor)
b) "Grotesque" chronotope as a way of satirical depiction of modernity:
- deformation of time in the novel: the principle of "historical combinations and projections" (S.A. Makashin) in the use of realities and names (give examples);
- deformation of space in the novel: local blurring of the boundaries of the city of Glupov (confirm with text).
III. A grotesque interpretation in the "History of a City" of the problem of "people and power" ("Life under the yoke of madness").
1. Study of the mechanisms of power in the book, artistic realization of the idea of "madness". "I won't stand it!" and "I'll ruin it!" as leitmotif formulas of power:
a) An indirect expression of the idea of "madness" in the images of mayors indulging in "bodily exercises" (Mikaladze ... - continue the list). What is remarkable about the reign of each of them?
b) Implementation of the metaphor "headless" in the images of such mayors as Organchik ... (continue the series). Wartkin as a harbinger of Moody-Burcheev (argument). "Idiot" Grim-Grumbling is the ultimate embodiment of the idea of "madness" of power (confirm with text).
2. Study in the book of mechanisms of subordination: "historical people" in Saltykov's novel:
a) A collective portrait of the Foolovites. What is the social composition of the Foolovian population. name character traits their psychology and behavior (boss love ... - continue). Prove that the behavior of the Foolovites is shown as a manifestation of the people's "madness". What is a "kneel rebellion"? (give examples).
b) How does the tone of the narrative change in the chapters "Hungry City" and "Straw City"? (quote relevant passages). Were Saltykov's reproaches of "mocking the people" fair? (see A.S. Suvorin's article and Saltykov's answer to it).
3. The logic of the development of the conflict "people and power". The ring principle of composition: from the dreams of bunglers about " strong hand” (give examples) - to the “nonsense” of Grim-Burcheev. Can we apply the thesis that every nation is worthy of its rulers to the ideological concept of the novel?
IV. Artistic embodiment in the novel of philosophical and historical views of Saltykov-Shchedrin.
1. The writer's idea of the people as "the embodiment of the idea of democracy" ("Letter to the Editor"). Periods of Foolov's prosperity and its causes (chapter "The era of dismissal from wars"). Why is Foolov called "the ill-fated municipality"? (chapter "Confirmation of repentance. Conclusion"). What, in your opinion, is the author's ideal state structure?
2. Evolutionary concept historical process. The movements of the Decembrists and Petrashevists as a real material for artistic generalizations ("martyrology of Foolov's liberalism"). The dystopian pathos of the book: the exposure of the totalitarian basis of "communist leveling" (chapters "Adoration of mammon and repentance", "Confirmation of repentance. Conclusion").
3. Biblical reminiscences in the novel and their function. Eschatological meaning of the finale, its anticipation at different stages of the development of the conflict. Find fragments in the text that express the idea of the cyclical development of history. What is the meaning of the river in the novel?
Literature
Mandatory
1. Saltykov-Shchedrin M.E. History of one city // Saltykov-Shchedrin M.E. Collected works: In 20 t. M., 1969. V.8. We also recommend that you refer to the comments of B.M. Eikhenbaum in the edition: Saltykov-Shchedrin M.E. History of one city. M.: Children's literature, 1970.
2. Saltykov-Shchedrin M.E. Letter to the editors of Vestnik Evropy // Saltykov-Shchedrin M.E. Collected works: In 20 t. M., 1969. V.8.
3. "Historical satire?" (Article by A.S. Suvorin and response to it by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin) // Russian literature. 1995. No. 4.
4. Nikolaev D."History of one city" M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin // Three masterpieces of Russian classics. M., 1971.
Additional
1. Elizarova L.V. Narration in the "History of a City" // Satire M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. 1826–1976 Kalinin, 1977.
2. Stroganov M.V. About the end of the History. To the problem "Shchedrin and the Decembrists" // "The Sixties" in the work of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. Kalinin, 1985.
3. Golovina T.N."History of one city": to be continued // Shchedrinskiy collection. Issue. 2. Tver, 2003.
