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108
K.V. Sinegubova (Kemerovo)
BOB DYLAN'S "TARANTULA" IN THE STRUCTURE OF MARIAM PETROSYAN'S NOVEL "THE GRAY HOUSE" ("THE HOUSE, IN WHICH...")
Abstract. M. Petrosyan's novel "The Gray House", whose title is already a quote from the famous children's poem (Russian: "Dom, v kotorom...", literally: "The House, In Which..."), abounds with the quotes and reminiscences. The constantly arising quotes in the fiction world of the novel create a peculiar cultural code which is common for all main characters. Being socially isolated, the teenage characters create their special world filling it with the cultural senses. The understanding of the implication created by the references to other texts (it is generally rock music and fantasy or science fiction literature) allows the reader to join the fiction world of the novel too. The mention of rare, little-known texts becomes the sign of the author's orientation to underground literature. A specific place among such texts is taken by Bob Dylan's novel "Tarantula" published in Russian in 1991. The references to Bob Dylan's "Tarantula" in M. Petrosyan's novel "The Gray House" are present in the epigraphs to four chapters and the names of characters as well. In each case the separate words of their epigraph coincide with some element of the fiction world embodied in the chapter. The close link arises between the epigraph and the character who is a subject of consciousness and speech in the chapter. Nevertheless, the unambiguous semantic link of the epigraph with the text of the novel does not arise. It is explained by the specifics of the novel "Tarantula" where the author constantly appeals to the nonsense and absurdity. On the one hand, the senseless phrase taken as an epigraph hints at the existence of hardly perceptible and ambiguous sense. On the other hand, it calls into question reliability and unambiguity of the information received by our minds. Besides, the quotes from the same book create additional links between characters who are poorly connected at the plot level.
Key words: Mariam Petrosyan; "The Gray House"; Bob Dylan; "Tarantula"; inter-textuality; epigraph; quotes; reminiscences; paratext; cultural background; absurdity; nonsense.
К.В. Синегубова (Кемерово)
«Тарантул» Боба Дилана в структуре романа М. Петросян «Дом, в котором...»
Аннотация. Роман М. Петросян «Дом, в котором..», чье название уже является цитатой из известного детского стихотворения, изобилует цитатами и реминисценциями. Эти цитаты, постоянно возникающие в художественном мире романа, создают своеобразный культурный код, общий для всех главных героев. Изолированные от социума, герои-подростки создают свой особый мир, наполняя его культурными смыслами. Понимание скрытого смысла, создаваемого отсылка-
ми к другим текстам (в основном это рок-музыка и сказочная либо фантастическая литература), позволяет читателю также включиться в художественный мир романа. Упоминание редких, малоизвестных текстов становится знаком ориентации автора на андеграундную литературу. Особое место среди них занимает роман Боба Дилана «Тарантул», изданный в русском переводе в 1991 г. В статье показывается, что отсылки к «Тарантулу» Боба Дилана в романе М. Петросян «Дом, в котором...» присутствуют в эпиграфах к четырем главам, а также в именах героев. В каждом случае отдельные слова их эпиграфа совпадают с каким-либо элементом художественного мира, который воплощен в указанной главе. Появляется соотношение между эпиграфом и героем, который является субъектом сознания и речи в соответствующей главе. С другой стороны, однозначной смысловой связи эпиграфа с текстом романа не возникает. Это объясняется спецификой самого романа «Тарантул», в котором автор постоянно обращается к бессмыслице и абсурду. Таким образом, бессмысленная фраза, взятая в качестве эпиграфа, с одной стороны, намекает на существование сложно уловимого и неоднозначного смысла, с другой - ставит под сомнение достоверность и однозначность той информации, которую мы получаем из главы. Кроме того, цитаты из одной и той же книги создают дополнительные связи между персонажами, которые слабо соотносятся на сюжетном уровне.
Ключевые слова. Мариам Петросян; «Дом, в котором.»; Боб Дилан; «Тарантул»; интертекстуальность; эпиграф; цитата; реминисценция; рамочный текст; культурный бэкграунд; абсурд; бессмыслица.
The basis of the fiction world in M. Petrosyan's novel "The Gray House" is the intertextuality what is already in the title of the novel. The Russian version of the novel was called "The House, In Which...", that is the perverted quote from the British nursery rhyme "This Is the House That Jack Built". Mariam Petrosyan, having her author's vision, says in her interview that there had to be the exact quote: "The book was called "The House, That ...". Of course, it is not so good as well but as I think the old title was notable and associated with "The House That Jack Built". And new one is not associated with anything. The "Livebook Publishing House" explained that the current title was given by some very famous poet. I do not know by whom exactly" [Юзефович / Yuzefo-vich 2010 (translation is ours)].
Although Mariam Petrosyan only points to the associative relation of the original version of the title with the English poem in the interview, it is possible to assume that the relation between the poem and the novel is deeper. The cumulative principle which is the cornerstone of the poem where each stanza is the repetition of a previous one with the addition of one more line, correlates with the idea of constant repetition embodied in the novel. The characters have an opportunity to return to the past and live a new life but with little changes. Such ratio of the quote which is taken out in the title and the main principle of the organization of the fiction world makes a reader pay a great attention to the intertextual component of the novel "The Gray House", especially to the numerous quotes from literary and music works. Many chapters the Russian version of the
novel of are preceded by epigraphs from mostly English-language. Translation by Yuri Machkasov changed the name of the novel and also removed almost all the epigraphs - except those taken from the "The Hunting of the Snark" by Lewis Carroll. These changes, of course, affect the intertextuality of the novel. In this paper, we refer to the translation by Yu. Machkasov as it is the only literary English translation of the novel. However, the subject of our study is quotes from Bob Dylan's novel "Tarantula" used as epigraphs in the original version of the novel and omitted in translation.
Bob Dylan's novel tarantula was written in 1966, translated into Russian in 1986 and published in Russia in 1991. Maxim Nemtsov - the author of Russian translation - calls Mariam Petrosyan among the first readers of the book: "It [the book] reached from Vladivostok even to Yerevan where it was read by Mariam Petrosyan and her rock-n-roll friends and used as the epigraph in "The Gray House"[Рубина / Rubina 2017 (translation is ours)]. The second edition of "Tarantula" was published only in 2017 after Bob Dylan had been awarded Nobel Prize in literature. Thus, "Tarantula" was the book almost unknown to general reader in Russia. "Tarantula" occupies a peripheral place not only in the literary tradition, but also in the work of Dylan. Even researchers who talk about the legitimacy of awarding Dylan the Nobel prize in literature, do not mention the novel as a significant achievement [Ball 2007]. Nevertheless, Bob Dylan is rather widely presented in the novel "The Gray House". The quotes from "Tarantula" appear in four epigraphs to the chapters of the novel and in the image of the House founder who signed with the pseudonym Tarantula [Petrosyan 2017, 612]. The "Dylan's" text also includes Eric Zimmerman (Smoker) - Bob Dylan's namesake - and a cat named Dylan. Let's begin with the epigraphs as they, being the paratext elements, are directly turned to the reader and the reader's experience.
S. Krzhizhanovsky, one of the first researchers of the epigraph, defines it as "the sign of the link between the new culture and the old one, the symbol of the international communication of multilingual literatures and also the continuity of the literary generations replacing each other" [Кржижановский / Krzhizha-novskiy 2006, 390 (translation is ours)]. The same function of the epigraph is noted in the dictionary "Poetics: Dictionary of Current Terms and Concepts": "the epigraph helps the author to show his creative orientation: on this or that literary reference or a circle of works" [Орлицкий / Orlitskiy 2008, 306 (translation is ours)]. It looks fair that in this case the demonstration of the link with underground literature is the main function of epigraphs from "Tarantula". As for the traditional main task of the epigraph, it is "to give the reader guidance, to channelize for understanding and interpretation of the work" [Орлицкий / Orlitskiy 2008, 306 (translation is ours)]. The problem is not solved and is not even raised in this case. Firstly, the putting of "hint" for the reader in the epigraph contradicts the poetics of hints, important for M. Petrosyan, viz. innuendo, intuitive understanding. Secondly, the specifics of the novel of Bob Dylan cardinally contradicts the idea to guide the reader.
"Tarantula" put the readers to confusion when it was published. Later re-
sponses do not practically differ from the first reactions. Even the scientific tradition notes the illogicalness and irrationality of the text. Kevin J.H. Dettmar writes: "the proofs of his first novel, Tarantula, had arrived and that Dylan, who seems to have written the book in a methamphetamine haze, recognized them to be unreadable and embarrassing" [Dettmar 2009, 150]. The Dylan's book is also defined as "un libro anómalo y anárquico" [Muschietti 2010, 289], "el libro que adelanta las líneas rizomáticas del posestructuralismo" [Muschietti 2010, 291].
Therefore, Dylan's book makes a nonsense impression. More precisely, the meaning is encrypted and blurred, which is explained by the influence of modernist poetics [Guziur 2012]. The quotes taken out of a context do not send to the general sense of the text or any thought from the book. The absurdity of these quotes and their sense escaping the reader create poetics of a hint, innuendo. "Likewise in an epigraph, very often the main thing is not what it says but who its author is, plus the sense of indirect backing that its presence at the edge of a text gives rise to - a backing that, in general, is less costly than the backing of a preface and even of a dedication, for one can obtain it without seeking permission" [Genette 2001, 159].
Four chapters of the novel with epigraphs from "Tarantula" are devoted to the different characters: Tabaqui, Ralph, Vulture and Red. The above-mentioned characters are the subjects of consciousness and speech in these chapters. Thus, we can see not only the deeds of the characters and the impression they make on people around, but we can hear their internal monologue as well. There are some things they never speak with anyone else, for example, melancholy of Vulture missing his dead twin brother. In the earlier text of the novel there were indirect facts: Vulture is constantly in mourning, and Ralph remembers his grief. The chapter "Walking with the Bird" allows us to see what the shadow of Vulture's brother is always near him, it explains a lot. For example, the fact that Vulture orders to his "flock" to communicate with girls and invite them on a visit, but he does not even think of it: "Max is the reason people seldom come closer to me than three paces when I'm not walking. Many of them feel his presence" [Petrosyan 2017, 390].
The epigraph to chapter about Vulture: "That's no bird - that's just a thief -he's building an outhouse out of stolen lettuce!" [Dylan 2004, 72]. The second name of Vulture is Bird, he is a flock leader of birds. However, the epigraph comprises the semantics of substitution: "That's no bird - that's just a thief', and it corresponds to a new, unexpected side of the identity of the character. Vulture is terrifying the inhabitants of the House completely subordinating "flock" - group to himself where he is a leader. However, this chapter allows us to see that the character is skeptical enough about himself and connects his own exclusiveness not with the strength of mind and personal advantages at all, but with the feeling of guilt about his brother.
The following epigraph is premised to the chapter about Red: "pure as visions & uneducated - shall exist past the deadly complements to it" [Dylan 2004, 72]. We also see the literal coincidence in this case. The word "pure"
corresponds to cleaning that Red is organizing in this chapter, and the deadly additions send to the second name of Red - Death and they are also associated with his deadly diagnosis and constant risk for his life. After the fight, he realizes with terror that he "was hopping around with the spine left completely unprotected" [Petrosyan 2017, 528]. However, the lack of a protective corset did not cause any negative consequences: Red will live many years - "shall exist" as it is told in the epigraph.
For the first time, this chapter also represents the consciousness of the character who has a certain image, and we can see how the attitude of the character strongly contradicts the impression that he makes on others.
In the chapter about Ralph, the most important thing is defined. It is his relation to the House where he has returned after a long absence. Nevertheless, this return seems against his will. The character thinks of the reasons which forced him to return. It happens not once in the novel. The epigraph is devoted to the escape from the House: "the house don't need you - why should you be so low as to need it - leave - go far away from the house" [Dylan 2004, 116]. At first sight, the epigraph contradicts the text of the novel by M. Petrosyan: in this chapter Ralph does not run away but comes back. However, despite the external divergence, the basic moments coincide. Ralph understands that the House has its will to accept or not to accept his return, and in the quote from "Tarantula" a subject of the will is also the House. Further Ralph will have one more attempt to leave, it relates to the fact that he "is not needed to the House". The epigraph from "Tarantula" could be Ralph's thoughts.
All three cases show us the literal coincidence of the epigraphs from "Tarantula" with the details of text. A bit different situation arises with the fourth case of the use of the quote from "Tarantula" as the epigraph for the chapter about Tabaqui the Jackal. This character is connected not only with some details of Dylan's text but also with the principle of creativity which is reflected in the novel "Tarantula".
The epigraphs for the numerous chapters about Tabaqui are mostly from "The Hunting of the Snark" by Lewis Carroll. This text is in good harmony with Tabaqui's need for mysticism which seems to people around as pure absurdity. Sphinx characterizes him as: "And yes, he likes to embellish the truth. But in that avalanche of words there is always the answer, somewhere in the middle. Which means it's not empty words anymore" [Petrosyan 2017, 321]. This characteristic is especially important as Mark Spitzer notes the sense of "Tarantula" being disguised by nonsense: "Meanwhile, there's an undiscovered continent of sense to be made from the seemingly nonsensical pages of Tarantula" [Spitzer 2006].
The lack of straightforwardness of Tabaqui and his tendency to compose songs indirectly reflecting the reality sends us to the principle of reflection of reality by Dylan: "after all, to fully perceive the fine web of music and meter strung throughout Tarantula, it takes a "seer" - a term Rimbaud used in defining the voyant: someone who approaches the ideal of the impossible through a systematic derangement of the senses-which Tarantula does in conscious dream-
like windings" [Spitzer 2006].
Tabaqui speaks about himself a lot and willingly. The whole second part of the novel is called "Eight days in the life of Jackal". However, Tabaqui is tending to poeticize the reality and to reinterpret it in such a way that looks more as recreation. But the chapter with the premised epigraph from "Tarantula" shows us a maximum reflection including problems important for the character. The following phrase is chosen as the epigraph: "funny how when you look, you can't find any pieces to pick up" he says this usually once a day to his bareback instrument" [Dylan 2004, 134]. Pieces to pick up is a major activity of Tabaqui in the last part of the book, he packs "nobody's" things trying to understand the nature of time that bizarrely passes in the House. The bareback tool also appears in the text. It is the wheelchair named Mustang. Tabaqui moves by means of it. Through the epigraph having literal coincidence with the text of the novel, Tabaqui the Jackal joins the row of characters united by Bob Dylan's "Tarnatula". If one compares all four characters connected by "Dylan's" epigraphs, it is possible to see that they are at the different level of understanding of mystical essence of the world where they exist. The pupils (Tabaqui, Red, Vulture) and their tutor (Ralph). Ralph and Tabaqui are trying to understand the essence of the House but Vulture and Red are not interested in it. Getting to the past (Tabaqui, Vulture), on "Wrong side" of the House (Ralph) or going beyond its limits (Red). Nevertheless, the epigraphs establish the strong link between these characters having a little in common at the plot level.
Gerard Genette's idea about "attributing the choice of the epigraph to the narrator-hero" [Genette 2001] lets us assume that the choice of epigraphs is caused not only by the intension of the author but also by the intention of characters. In that case, narrators in each of four chapters not only read the same book (it is possible because there is a library in the House) but also chose the strategy of self-determination through Dylan's text. It is not only Tabaqui who adores mysticism and secrets but Ralph as well. Though, he prefers to present a logical and reasonable explanation to the events.
"Dylan's" text in M. Petrosyan's novel "The Gray House" includes two more characters: Sphinx and Smoker. The founder of the House who was mentioned once and who subscribes under the pseudonym Tarantula relates to one of the main characters - Sphinx. Tarantula enthusiastically writes articles and Sphinx is the author of the articles for the magazine which they edit together with Tabaqui. Tarantula had a collection of ancient musical instruments and Sphinx has it (in the epilogue). This coincidence is not casual, moreover, we can assume that Sphinx is a founder of the House, i.e. Tarantula because time specifically passes in the novel:
"Time does not flow like a river. A river that you can't enter twice," Sphinx said. "It is more like circles on the surface of the water. That's a quote, I didn't invent that."
He raised his gloved artificial hand and pointed at the dart in the middle of the target.
"And if into those circles you drop something, say, a feather, like it is here,
it would generate its own circles, you see? Small, weak ones, almost invisible. But they will expand and intersect with the large ones" [Petrosyan 2017, 714].
Sphinx receives a feather from Master of Time in the epigraph. He uses it to come back to the past and the feather falls in the dispersing time circles. Sphinx refused to join the Wrong side of the House and chose the world not belonging to the House. As a result, he comes to the ruins of the House, reconciles with it and founds it anew. It makes him coincide with the founder of the House -Tarantula.
"Dylan's" text is presented by Petrosyan not only through the quotes from the novel "Tarantula". The text also contains the references to Bob Dylan's identity. One of characters of the novel nicknamed Smoker carries a surname Zimmerman. This is a real surname of Bob Dylan. Smoker's diary which is actively used and the novel "The Gray House" having polyphonic structure are compositionally like the novel by Bob Dylan "Tarantula" because it also consists of the parts signed with different names and represents "avant-garde work of postmodern poetics" [Spitzer 2006]. Smoker, being a pupil of the House, is very far from understanding the essence of the place where he is. The whole House seems an irritating riddle to him. The novel pays much attention to Smoker's experiences and his thoughts on this matter. Perhaps for this reason, it refers not to someone from characters of the novel "Tarantula" and even not to the scenic identity of Bob Dylan but to Robert Zimmerman - the biographic personality who is beyond the scope of creative process.
However, Smoker sees himself as a cat in his hallucinations coinciding with a cat who lives in the House and whom the characters of the novel nicknamed Dylan. The widespread surname Zimmerman conceals the creative potential, but the character is trying to refuse it. We find out in the epilogue that Smoker "took more of the House with him than he thinks" [Petrosyan 2017, 713] and is engaged in pointless painting which demands the same specific perception as well as the nonlinear letter of "Tarantula".
Cat's nickname in combination with the epigraphs from "Tarantula", it shows that characters are probably well familiar with Bob Dylan's works. The epigraphs become significant for the reader who understands what the book "Tarantula" is and reacts to other mentions of Bob Dylan in the text of the novel. As the inscriptions on the House walls which are difficult for deciphering to the profane person, the quotes from "Tarantula" create a certain link between characters, the author and readers.
Thus, it is possible to speak about specific approach of Mariam Petrosyan to the use of Dylan's text. The quotes from "Tarantula" are markers of the common cultural background which links characters, the author and readers. By means of epigraphs and less obvious references to Bob Dylan's "Tarantula", the additional links between characters are created. The literal coincidence of separate details in M. Petrosyan's novel and in the quotes from "Tarantula" taken as the epigraphs, indicates strong link existing between these two works. However, the nature of this link is not clear. The mysterious and sometimes absurd epigraphs are premised to the chapters where we find out new, earlier hidden information
on characters. Thus, the epigraphs from "Tarantula" conflicts with the informational content of chapters underlining the relativity of any knowledge. Such an aim completely corresponds to the gnoseological principles reflected in the novel by M. Petrosyan.
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Синегубова Капиталина Валерьевна, Кемеровский государственный университет.
Кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры журналистики и русской литературы. Научные интересы: художественный вымысел, русская литература XX-XXI вв., современный литературный процесс.
E-mail: sinegubova@nextmail.ru
ORCID 0000-0002-3917-1304
Kapitalina V. Sinegubova, Kemerovo State University.
Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor at the Department of Journalism and Russian Literature of the XX century. Research interests: fiction, Russian literature of the 19 - 21 century, modern literary process.
E-mail: sinegubova@nextmail.ru
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-3917-1304
