ВЛИЯНИЕ ДАТИРОВКИ НА АНАЛИЗ И ИНТЕРПРЕТАЦИЮ ПРОИЗВЕДЕНИЯ (НА ПРИМЕРЕ РАССКАЗА Л.ПАНТЕЛЕЕВА «ЧЕСТНОЕ СЛОВО»)

Научная статья
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18454/RULB.9.04
Выпуск: № 1 (9), 2017
PDF

Аннотация

Статья посвящена разбору рассказа Л.Пантелеева «Честное слово» с точки зрения влияния точной датировки произведения на анализ поэтического строя и построения типологических моделей при интерпретации художественного образа. Созданный в 1941 году, рассказ впоследствии был подвергнут редакции (в 1943 году). Внесенные автором корректировки сделали рассказ универсальным по своим временным границам, но изменили его исторический контекст. Обращение к первой редакции рассказа, позволяет уточнить ряд содержательных аспектов и противоречий, а также изменить взгляд на традиционное место рассказа в типологии художественных образов Л.Пантелеева.

Interest in L.Panteleev's work (Alexei Ivanovich Eremeev) is not accidental. 2017 is the thirtieth anniversary of his death; 2018 marks one hundred and ten years from the date of his birth. There is a more formal occasion, too: In December of 2014 The Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg supported the idea of the city governor concerning the installation of a memorial plaque on the facade of the so-called “writer's home” dedicated to L.Panteleev. This building is the former residence house of the Literary Fund, located at Malaya Posadskaya Street 8 [8]. The resolution was taken in circumvention of the standard procedure. A plaque typically commemorates the memory of an outstanding personality; it should be noted that at least thirty years after the date of the person's death must pass in order to install it. [7] A.I.Eremeev died in 1987 in Leningrad. This, three more years had to pass before the installation of the plaque. The resolution had to emphasize the importance of L.Panteleev for modern Russian literature and trigger a new wave of interest in the work of the writer. It is equally important that scientific interest towards this outstanding writer will revive, noted, in particular, by the thesis of O.S. Batova (2016) on the work of L.Panteleev [2]. It was the first thesis after 1991's paper by N.G. Antufieva [1].

However, despite increased attention to the writer, the main problem in the study of L.Panteleev's creative heritage is “a complex of interest,” where individual small forms (stories) are analyzed only as a fragment which allows you to understand the style of the author as a whole, or to justify the typology of his artistic images. Thus, N.G. Antufieva identifies and analyzes the accuracy of the characters in L.Panteleev's stories created by a combination of high and low in his young characters [1], O.S.Batova proposes to consider the stories in terms of identifying archetypal images in them [2].

The majority of researchers refer to an array of stories to create typological models, allowing the comprehension of the point of view as a result of the interaction of the “image of the world” and the “image of the author” as a whole. This collection of stories is a convenient base for generalizations. This approach is found in two major scientific works devoted to the analysis of works of L.Panteleev about childhood (and, respectively, primarily for children who are familiar with the picture of the world). Analysis of one story often seems redundant, irrelevant, not allowing the identification of a major “type” and exploration of the totality of its relationships. However, the omission of small forms in the detailed analysis often causes errors in the deployment of typological images, especially their impact on the modern reader.

Let's try to prove this statement with the help of the story of L.Panteleev “Word of Honour.” In most editions the following date of the story creation is given – 1941. The accuracy is confirmed by the writer himself – in his memoirs, “Story of My Scene” (1977) published in “Literary Russia” [3] and comprising his “Collection of Works.” L.Panteleev recreates the history of the story creation “dedicated to the moral theme” in winter of 1941 following the instructions of the literary and art magazine for students “Bonfire.” Combining his own memories and responding to the task of the editor, L.Panteleev creates a story about a boy, a young resident of Leningrad, who gave his word of honour to protect the “warehouse” in the children's military game. The boy realised that his comrades had forgotten about it, but he still courageously protected the “warehouse” when a real military guard came, led to the park by the short story's author. In June 1941, this story was published in a magazine, and then in 1943 it entered the collection of the State Children's Publishing House (“DETGIZ”) together with other stories, mostly written in the besieged Leningrad (for example, the story called “On the Skiff”.) It is this dating (1941) which is given in most recent editions of the text. However, a careful reading of the text of a short story in all editions after 1943 contains one serious contradiction, which raises doubts concerning the dating.

Let's start with the conversation of the main character with a young cavalry major who, at the request of the author, comes to replace the boy who is guarding the warehouse. The commander asks which title is held by the “comrade guard.” The boy replies that he is a sergeant. The commander (young cavalry major) tells the young “sergeant” to leave the post. However, the boy has to make sure that he is substituted by the senior officer from the guard, and he, in his turn, asks which title is held by the commander. The question of the boy in the story's edition of 1943 reads as follows: “And what is your rank? I do not see how many stars you've got...” [5, p.6]. The commander replies that he is a major, and this gives him the right to replace the junior officer from the guard.

Such a dialogue could not take place in 1941, as the “stars” were introduced later – in 1943. After a decisive turning point in World War II, famous decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet Council was signed January 6, 1943. It was an order, according to which the Red Army introduced new shoulder straps. In addition to the shoulder straps, new insignia were introduced. So, January 15, 1943 an order to introduce changes in the form of new clothes and insignias was issued. There is a contradiction between the conventional dating and the content of the story. However, the first version of the story “Word of Honour” which was published in No.6 of “Bonfire” magazine in June 1941 solves the problem. The question of the boy in this version sounds different: “Which title do you have? I do not see how many bars you've got...” [4, p.3]. Such a dialogue could take place in 1941. In the period after the Civil War (1922) prior to the start of 1943 insignia in the Red Army was represented by the collar insignia and armband chevrons. Average command personnel wore “cubes,” while the senior personnel had “bars.” Another interesting fact is that the young commander who rushes to the aid of the guard is a cavalry major. The author notices someone in a blue cap in the crowd. Cavalry is fanned by romance for the boys, who grew up on stories of the Civil War, but it did no longer have such a force after the end of World War II, and in 1950, it was abolished altogether.

A careful study of the first version of the story allows us to find another difference in the wording of the text from 1943. In the latter edition, the boy speaks about the guys who invited him to the game and put him on guard without mentioning their names. The boy says that he was sitting on a bench in the park when he was approached by some unknown guys and they offered him to play “war.” The boy agrees, and he gets a military rank of the sergeant in this military game. The head of the boys is referred to as follows: “A big boy, he was a marshal...” [5, p.4]. “Marshal” leads the boy to the booth with garden tools, and it becomes a gunpowder warehouse in the game. The main character is put on guard at this place and he gives his word of honour that he would not leave the post entrusted to him. The boy gives his word of honour that he would not go away [5, p.4].

In the 1941 edition we read the following: “One big boy, he was Timoshenko... the marshal” [4, p.2]. “The big boy” gets the name of a real historical character, which allows us to pinpoint the time when the story happened. At the beginning of the story the author indicates that the action takes place on a warm summer evening in Leningrad, in the garden on Vasilyevsky Island. But the name of Marshal Timoshenko allows us to identify the exact year – summer of 1940. May 7, 1940 Semyon Timoshenko was appointed People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR. His photographs appeared in all the newspapers, every boy knew his name. It was then that he had the highest rank awarded – Marshal of the Union. Thus, S.K.Timoshenko became the marshal in May 1940 and in June 1941 the story had already been published in the journal. Obviously, the story takes place in the summer of 1940. In the edition of 1943, L.Panteleev removes the name of Marshal Timoshenko (July 19, 1941, J.V. Stalin replaced S.K.Timoshenko on the post of People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR), changed the bars to stars and this version is the one the modern reader typically gets acquainted with.

Presented historical analysis is relevant for the analysis of a poetic work. The objectives of the study of the poetics concern basic aspects of a literary work, the correlation of significant elements of the work for the creation of a model allowing us to see the artistic whole – interaction of the “image of the world” and the “image of the author,” which produces a single “point of view.” The analysis of the story outside historical context can lead to the formation of the simplified “point of view” on the “moral subject” designated by the author, which claims the presence of an artistic image in the story, the image of a little hero who can be misunderstood by the modern reader.

In her article written for the centenary of the birth of A.I.Panteleev, E.O.Putilova notes a moral dilemma, the ambiguity of the image of a little sentry in the eyes of the reader. Perhaps, she believes that the intransigence of the young hero and his resistance in the game are controversial by themselves. The reader may well think that the character of the story is sillier than other children, who had put him on guard; that they had forgotten about him or might have laughed at him. [6, p.32]. However, these issues arise when the reader perceives the story as a description of the “timeless” case, which could happen in 1950, 1960, 1970 or any other time. By changing a few words in the story, L.Panteleev gave made it timeless, but at the same time reduced true tension of the plot, which could exist only in 1940.

The story “Word of Honour” is traditionally attributed to the series of “optimistic” works of L.Panteleev – stories with a happy end (such as, for example, his story “The Hours,” a series of stories about sisters Belochka and Tamarochka –

“At the Sea,” “Spanish Hats,” “In the forest”). They are contrasted to the tragic stories written in the besieged Leningrad (“Dolores,” “On the Skiff”). However, “Word of Honour” can be referred to the group of “serious stories” as it is full of tragedy. This story, in its own way, is a “watershed” between optimistic and tragic stories: It is optimistic in terms of content, but the context is ultimately tragic. The tragic character of artistic images that fill the story is also due to the dating of the work – the story was written before World War II, this is a “male” story with a set of male images of the pre-war Leningrad, the sense of the approaching war in which victory is only possible due to the word of honour.

The idea of the erroneous inclusion of the work into the group of “optimistic” stories, confirms the final of the “Word of Honour.” The author proposes to walk the young hero home, but he says that he lives close and is not afraid. The author excitedly says that by looking at the face of the young sentry he realised that he has nothing to fear. Young “sergeant,” he writes, has such qualities of the character that the darkness and the bullies could not scare him. He would not be scared by more terrible things. The author refers to the future and thinks about what will happen to the boy when he grows up [4, p.3]. This happy final turns into a deep tragic one when we realise that a year later, the city of the little boy will be in the blockade, these “more terrible things” will come, things scarier than bullies and the darkness and, perhaps, the boy would stay in the dying town. The final of the blockade stories by L.Panteleev draws the tragic fate of the child, who helps the besieged town to survive.

Thus, a closer analysis of the story (as opposed to the complex analysis of a series of stories to construct the typology of artistic images) suggests making a conclusion about the relationship of the exact dating of the work, the study of its editions and their analysis and erroneous series of typological models, referring the story to the “optimistic” category of stories for children on “moral theme.”

Список литературы

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