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24ЛИТЕРАТУРОВЕДЕНИЕ И ФОЛЬКЛОРИСТИКА
УДК 81:39: 811.512.122 ГРНТИ 17.09
Г. С. Умарова
Комическое и сатирическое в повести В. И. Даля «Майна»
Статья посвящена отражению комического и сатирического в роли художественных средств в повести В. И. Даля «Майна». В статье теоретически осмысляются эстетические категории сатирического как особого эстетического отношения к действительности и комического как средства отражения в искусстве явлений, содержащих несоответствие, несообразность или алогическое противоречие, и оценка их посредством смеха.
Исходя из мысли, что разновидностями комического в искусстве являются юмор, смех, сатира, ирония, при анализе повести «Майна» делается вывод об использовании писателем комического как выражения самой природы человека, особенности характера казахов и специфической жизненной практики героев. Разновидности комического помогают реалистически отобразить казахскую действительность начала XIX века: 1) комическое было обусловлено общественными противоречиями реалий; 2) комическое является достоянием авторского сознания.
Ключевые слова: комическое и сатирическое, художественные средства, авторское сознание.
GuVnara Umarova The Comic and Satirical in the Story "Maina" by V. I. Dahl
The article is devoted to the reflection of the comic and satirical in the role of artistic means in "Maina" story britten by V. I. Dal '. On the basis of theoretical comprehension of the aesthetic category of the comic as a reflection in the art of phenomena containing inconsistency, inconsistency or alogical contradiction, and their evaluation through laughter; and satirical as a special aesthetic attitude to reality, a specific, special way to see comically the whole of life and to know it with laughter; proceeding from the idea that humor, laughter, satire, irony are forms of comic art in the art, while analyzing the story "Maina", the author concludes that the writer uses the comic as an expression of the very nature of man, as a feature of Kazakh's character, specific life practices of heroes. Varieties of comic help to realistically reflect the
© Умарова Г. С., 2018 © Umarova G., 2018
Kazakh reality of the early XIX century: 1) the comic was due to public contradictions of reality; 2) comic is the property of the author's consciousness.
Key words: comic and satirical, artistic media, author's consciousness.
In the development of Russian literary thought, beginning with the times of Gogol, the concept of "the comic" and the previously existing "the satirical" constantly interact and overlap - so it seems natural to combine them in the title of the present article. Vladimir Dahl, the novelist, actively uses the comic and the satirical in the role of artistic media in his story "Maina".
In "The Short Literary Encyclopedia" [5, p. 69] the Comic (from the Greek. Komikos - funny, hilarious) is an aesthetic category implying reflection of events that contain some discrepancy, inconsistency or contradiction illogical in arts, and further their evaluation through laughter. A more precise definition of inconsistency that causes laughter one may find in N. G. Chernyshevsky's works: "...An inner emptiness and insignificance clothed in appearance that has a claim to the content and the real value" [9, p. 31].
In the "Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms" [8, p. 65] L. I. Timofeyev and S. V. Turayev claim that comic situations are always solvable and laughter is that vital force which ruthlessly ruins the signs of the past, crushes various social vices. The essence of the comic is clearly manifested in the arts teaching people to laugh - this is no less important than the ability to deeply empathize with the sublime and noble things and events. Humor, laughter, satire and irony are the varieties of the Comic in arts.
The artistic generalization of life in Dahl's story "Maina" is inseparably connected with humor. Humor is the most life-affirming and complex form of the comic. It expresses things serious with a smile, small and insignificant things and events are always seen as having great importance. Humorous laughter does not deny the phenomena of life, the writer is aware of its imperfection only [8, p. 65]. V. I. Dahl actively uses humor when creating and displaying images of the Kazakh realities on the pages of his story "Maina" in order to defuse the situation, to emphasize the discrepancy of the representations of the hero made by him and by the others, or to show the absurdity of the situation which gets the hapless hero etc.
Humor as an expression of the nature of man, as an expression of the Kazakhs' national character was seen by Dahl in his research of the Kazakh society during the so called "Orenburg period" of his life and creative work (18331841). It is known that there were a lot of prepared materials for a new Kazakh story in the intentions of the writer, it was aimed at "funny, humorous sides of
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the Asiatic steppe life" [3, p. 259-260]. And therefore the source of the comic richly used by the author in his novel "Maina" was a specific life experience of its heroes. Sometimes it was the contrast between the intentions of the hero and his spiritual weakness, as in the case of an old groom Berkut Yulbarsov or the contrast between impracticality and frequent confusion of Major (another Maina's groom) that he demonstrated in the face of life situations.
The funny sides of the individual characters in the story are revealed in close unity with the identification of the comic aspects of the life they are involved into as its inseparable part. Humor is therefore does not only describe the delineation of a single character, but paints the narrative as a whole, determining its tone and the overall flavour. Having a back on the experience of communication, scientific study and investigation of the inaccessible and rare historical sources, relying on the knowledge of the Kazakhs and his profound life observations, Dahl saturates the author's narration, dialogues of the personages, descriptions of their appearance and their inner world with a lot of humour.
The treatment of satire not as a special genre but as a special aesthetic attitude to reality that is able to subordinate different genre forms to its tasks begins in Russian literature just from the 1840's. Theoretical and practical efforts of writers of the natural school resulted in the understanding of the fact that satire is a specific, particular way of life treatment with the help of the comic, the way to aware it by laughter. So Dahl uses the comic as one of the expressive means in the story "Maina".
Karasakal-Batyr (the warrior), Maina's father, writes a letter to his "ex" matchmaker, Sakalbay, it is full of eloquence and lush empty phrases. He says that he decided to marry his daughter to Sultan Berkut (eagle. - G.U.), a son of Yulbarsov, as the white bone of Sultan is doubtless [6, р. 206-207] (to possess "the white bone" means to belong to the higher social layers, to be of noble origin. - G.U.). Dahl masterfully depicts the usual course of everyday rituals. But the reader sees the absurdity under the mask of their everyday life, the text has received a humorous "side lighting". The very name of the groom in the Kazakh language means "Eagle" and his family name comes from "Lion" (Yuldus), this fact discloses the contrast between the names and the appearance and the spiritual content of the hero.
V.G. Belinsky ranked Dahl among the members of the "natural school" in Russian literature. The features of this school were primarily manifested by the funny names of heroes, the name of Maina's groom - Mayor, in particular.
The same funny for the representatives of the natural school look the soundings of some other proper names in the story discussed. Dahl writes that
the names of the Kazakh Maly Orda genera (the Minor genera) are sometimes derived from the names of different objects or concepts, e.g. Karasakal - "black beard", Sarybash - "yellow head", Karabalyk - "black fish". In the writer's opinion the intentions of the Kazakhs to name a child according to the objects, persons or events they see just at the moment a child is born seem ridiculous and incomprehensible. In the natural school the names of the characters most often served as means of the creation of the ironic, comic, or satirical tone. "Speaking names" were frequently used by the writers of the school.
In the story "Maina" we read: "The Kaysaks have an interesting Kalmyk or Mongolian custom that is also found among semi-nomadic Bashkirs - to name a newborn, at will, in accordance with the immediately seen object or concept. The other Muslim nations do not practice this.
There lived an old man among the Bayulints (generic name. - G.U) - Sa-kalbay, he had four sons - Colonel, Major, Captain and Lieutenant. I call them all by their names - these are ranks, not Russian personal names, they all were given in accordance with the strange forms of address" [1, p. 367]. But the author does not have to invent funny names of his heroes: there existed an idea that the funnier the name of a child, the longer he lives in the world, or a child with that name can not be put the evil eye on, and therefore won't be hurt.
Purely stylistic, verbal comicality, different squibs do not tend to stay in the foreground in the works of the natural school writers. Truly ridiculous things lie much deeper in the texts by the "comedian" writers of the natural school. But in general it's hard to deny that comic expressivity of style is a very important moment for satire. The very way of the "ridiculous" statements, the manner of verbal expression is not indifferent for it [4, p. 153].
Some of the techniques of the comic practiced in the 40s of the 19th century as one of its basic methods took their place in the story "Maina". This differs Dahl from other essayists (there is no anything comic in Grigorovich's essays, Butkov's an Grebenka's comic methods are quite different). Dahl is more a follower of Gogol [7, p. 57]. Comic situations are often used by Dahl on the pages of his story "Maina". It is a comic situation where Maina and Kutsiy (Shorty) were left without food after the attack of the gang, and in the case where a hungry "knight" Maina was picturing how he would eat a whole sheep. "Enjoying this tasty and satisfying dish in his thoughts, he imagined how that succulent meat was amusing his unpretentious tongue and palate. He burst into laughter and wiped his mouth with his hand, back and forth, from ear to ear. Then Kutsiy yawned, his jaw dissolving a quarter and a half, winced, shrugged his shoulders
back and forth, and began to doze off on a horse, like after a good dinner" [1, p. 173].
The story is full of humor, laughter; there are light colors in the descriptions of the characters and situations. These humorous situations are widely used by the author in the depiction of the image and the actions of the protagonist's groom - Major. According to his education, the perception of the nature of life Major is a kind of "ignoramus". Major's depletion of consciousness is not the result of his biological inferiority; it is a consequence of the conditions in which he lives. It is his father who solves his problems for him, who formulates plans of his actions. Major has got used to relying on his father, who decides and makes everything for him, calling his son stupid. He just had to "listen to his father and keep silent" [1, p. 371].
The humor used on the pages of the story is not far-fetched, it is one of the characteristic features of the Kazakhs who are always able to joke and take a joke.
Dahl used the comic, its varieties - humor and satire - in the story "Maina" [2, p. 316] as one of the artistic means that helped him to portray the Kazakh life of the early nineteenth century realistically. First, the comic was caused by the public controversies of the Kazakh realities of the time, and secondly, the comic in the literary text is a property of the author's consciousness.
Список литературы
1. Даль В. И. Полн. собр. соч. в 10 т. СПб.; М.: Изд-во товарищества М. О. Вольф, 1897-1898. Т. VII. 413 c.
2. Даль В. И. Оренбургский край в художественных произведениях писателя. Оренбург: Оренбургское книжное изд., 2001. 416 с.
3. Евстратов Н. Даль и Западный Казахстан // Уч. зап. Уральского пед. ин-та, 1957. Вып. 12. С. 245-260.
4. Жук А. А. Сатира натуральной школы / под ред. Е. И. Покусаева. Саратов: Изд-во Саратовского ун-та, 1979. 231 с.
5. Краткая литературная энциклопедия. М.: Советская энциклопедия, 1966. Т. 3.
976 с.
6. Лаврецкий А. Эстетика Белинского. М.: Художественная литература, 1968.
400 с.
7. Смирнова (Писарева) В. А. Даль и натуральная школа: дис. ... канд. филол. наук. Саратов, 1972. 173 с.
8. Тимофеев Л. И., Тураев С. В. Краткий словарь литературоведческих терминов. М.: Просвещение, 1978. 219 с.
9. Чернышевский Н. Г. Полн. собр. соч. М.: Просвещение, 1949. Т. II. 907 с.
References
1. Dal' V. I. Poln. sobr. soch. v 10 tomah. [Collected Works in 10 v.]. St. Petersburg; Moscow: Tovarishhestvo M. O. Vol'f Publ., 1897-1898. T. VII. 413 p.
2. Dal' V. I. Orenburgskij kraj v hudozhestvennyh proizvedenijah pisatelja [The Orenburg region in the writer's works of art]. Orenburg: Orenburg Book Publ., 2001. 416 p.
3. Evstratov N. Dal' i Zapadnyj Kazahstan [Dal and Western Kazakhstan] // Uch. zap. Ural'skogo ped. in-ta [Scientific notes of the Ural Pedagogical Institute], 1957. Vyp. 12. Pp. 245-260.
4. Zhuk A. A. Satira natural'noj shkoly [Satire of the Natural School] / pod red. E. I. Pokusaeva. Saratov: Saratovskij un-t Publ., 1979. 231 p.
5. Kratkaja literaturnaja jenciklopedija [A short literary encyclopedia]. Moscow: So-vetskaja jenciklopedija Publ., 1966. T. 3. 976 p.
6. Lavreckij A. Jestetika Belinskogo [Aesthetics of Belinsky]. Moscow: Hudozhestven-naja literatura Publ, 1968. 400 p.
7. Smirnova (Pisareva) V. A. Dal' i natural'naja shkola: dis. ... kand. filol. nauk [Dal and the natural school: author's abstract dis. .. .Cand. Phil. Sci.]. Saratov, 1972. 173 p.
8. Timofeev L. I., Turaev S. V. Kratkij slovar' literaturovedcheskih terminov [Short dictionary of literary terms]. Moscow: Prosveshhenie Publ., 1978. 219 p.
9. Chernyshevskij N. G. Poln. sobr. soch. [Collected Works]. Moscow: Prosveshhenie Publ., 1949. T. II. 907 p.
