Venichka's Journey of Redemption in Moskva-Petushki
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Paved With Good Intentions: Venichka’s Journey of Redemption in Moskva-Petushki and its Relationship with Radishchev’s Journey from Saint Petersburg to Moscow, Milton’s Paradise Lost, and Dante’s Divine Comedy. Jill Mackenzie Martiniuk Mount Laurel, New Jersey M.A. University of Virginia, 2009 M.A. La Salle University, 2007 B.A. Emory University, 2003 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty Of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Slavic Languages & Literatures University of Virginia May 2015 © Copyright by Jill Martiniuk All Rights Reserved April 2015 Paved With Good Intentions: Venichka’s Journey of Redemption in Moskva- Petushki and its Relationship with Radishchev’s Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow, Milton’s Paradise Lost, and Dante’s Divine Comedy. JILL MARTINIUK University of Virginia, Graduate School of Arts & Science, 2015 Dissertation Advisor: Edith Clowes ABSTRACT The goal of this dissertation is to examine the theme of redemption in Venedikt Erofeev’s 1969 poema Moskva-Petushki. Moskva-Petushki is a major underground work of the late Soviet postmodern period, which narrates the physical and spiritual journey of the protagonist from Moscow to the small factory town of Petushki on an electric train. Although Moskva-Petushki is usually viewed as a satire, this dissertation takes a new approach, viewing the poema as a journey of spiritual redemption. It examines the relationship between Moskva-Petushki (translated as Moscow to the End of the Line) and other major journeys of redemption—Radishchev’s Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow, Milton’s Paradise Lost and Dante’s The Divine Comedy. Understood as absolution from past sins, redemption opens new interpretative possibilities for Moskva-Petushki. Redemption is a valuable lens through which to interpret Moskva-Petushki because it allows the reader to question the motivations for Venichka’s journey to Petushki and what drives his desire to go there. This dissertation argues that Venichka attempts to reach Petushki in order to alleviate the grief he feels over his past sins. However, Venichka the protagonist does not have a single vision of redemption and this lack of vision may help to explain the failure of his previous twelve trips to bring him to Petushki as all previous trips have ended in a return to Moscow. Venichka is unable to find a path to redemption on his own, and this uncertainty causes him to stagger at the beginning of his thirteenth attempt. Since Venichka cannot find the correct path to his own redemption, and has met with continual failure on previous journeys, I contend that Erofeev engages with and parodies three pre-established paths to redemption to raise the issue of the possibility of redemption and what it might mean in soviet society. The overall goal of this dissertation is to examine how Erofeev responds to the theme of redemption in each work. It also seeks to show how the author Erofeev parodies the three previous paths to redemption in order to illustrate how these visions of redemption are not universally applicable to all who seek it, and offer a false hope to those who believe they have earned salvation. Chapter 1 “From Moscow to Petushki: Redemption and Social Enlightenment in Venichka’s Journey” examines Erofeev’s response to Radishchev’s work and his use of parody to create a commentary on Russia’s journey to social enlightenment over the past two centuries. Radishchev’s vision of social enlightenment in A Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow means moving towards a society where all Russians are equal before the law, and thoughts can be expressed free from censorship. For Erofeev, social enlightenment means understanding the efforts of previous Russian reformers, but rejecting them for their inaction and inability to move Russia forward. In particular, Erofeev focuses his attention on the images of the narod (the nation; the people) and the intelligentsia, in the form of his fellow passengers, to show the stagnation of social enlightenment and social redemption in its final form as the Soviet Union. Chapter 2, “Rebel Angels: Seeking the Satanic in Moskva-Petushki,” has two goals: to show how Erofeev appropriates images from John Milton’s Paradise Lost, and to explain why Erofeev’s parody of Milton’s vision of redemption and longing for Paradise offers a sense of false hope to seekers who are uncertain of their own path. It posits that the essence of Venichka’s rebellion is metaphysical—he refuses to accept the Soviet atheist premise that the human spirit is merely a higher development of the physical world. He insists on his spiritual existence. This chapter compares Venichka to the figure of Satan, and considers the similarities between Venichka’s angels and the rebellious angels of Paradise Lost. Numerous times in the text Venichka appropriates the distinct characteristics of Milton’s Satan in his quest to regain Petushki. Erofeev’s creative response to Paradise Lost brings out the dual nature of Venichka’s personality and motivation for his journey. In his creative appropriation of Paradise Lost, Erofeev examines the desire to seek salvation while wanting to rebel against an established system. Chapter 3, “Venichka and La Diritta Via: Exploring the Dantean Path to Redemption in Moskva-Petushki” argues for Erofeev’s creative response to Dante’s The Divine Comedy. Erofeev’s appropriation of themes and imagery creates a commentary on the idea of salvation and questions the possibility of redemption for people who seek it. Although Erofeev sends his protagonist on a journey that resembles Dante’s divinely inspired path through the use of portals and the motif of the guide, Erofeev’s protagonist meets with drastically different results than Dante’s. By examining Erofeev’s poema through the lens of The Divine Comedy, the reader must consider what it means to be redeemed in a society where redemption does not promise survival. These three paths to redemption that Erofeev challenges in Moskva-Petushki are discussed in reverse chronological order because of the dialog that occurs between the four works rather than which author had the biggest impact on Erofeev’s own definition of redemption. By challenging these three metanarratives on redemption, Erofeev constructs his own concept of redemption from these three predecessors but comes to a completely different and quite original conclusion about the possibility of salvation in Soviet society. Acknowledgments It is with immense gratitude that I acknowledge the support and guidance of my advisor, Professor Edith Clowes. She provided me with a wealth of knowledge that helped guide me through the process of writing. I also thank the members of my committee: Professors Karen Ryan, Julian Connolly and James Daniel Kinney for their support and valuable help. I wish to present a special thanks to Luciana Wlassics and the University of Virginia’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for their generous funding of this project. This dissertation would not have been possible without the guidance and the help of several individuals who in one way or another contributed to the final project. I want to thank Arin Gencer for her support and willingness to serve as an editor and sounding board when needed. I would also like to thank my husband, Sean Lufkin. His encouragement made it possible to finish this project. Finally, I would like to show my gratitude to my parents, Barbara and Michael Daly for their constant encouragement, support and so much more. Table of Contents 1: Abstract 2. Acknowledgements 3. Table of Contents 4. Introduction 5. Chapter One: “From Moscow to Petushki: Redemption and Social Enlightenment in Venichka’s Journey” §1 Introduction §2 Historical Context of A Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow §3 Circular and Linear Paths §4 Direction and Intention of the Journey §5 The Journeys’ Origins and Destinations §6 Progressive Movement §7 The Narod §8 Venichka and Social Enlightenment §9 Conclusion 6. Chapter Two: Rebel Angels: Seeking the Satanic in Moskva-Petushki §1 Introduction §2 Milton’s Definition of Redemption §3 Milton’s Russian Reception §4 Milton’s Satan in the Soviet Union §5 Radishchev and Milton §6 Narrative Structure §7 Place §8 Rejection, Exile and Nostos §9. Venichka’s Duality §10 Satanic Doubling §11 The Quest for Power §12 Repentance §13 Satan in Moskva-Petushki §14 Satanic Symbolism-The Scales §15 Rebel Angels §16 Conclusion 7. Venichka and La Diritta Via: Exploring the Dantean Path to Redemption in Moskva-Petushki §1. Introduction §2. Background & Dante’s Definition of Redemption §3. Existing Research §4 Why Dante? §5 Dante in 19th and 20th C. Russian Literature §6 The Author as Protagonist §7 Separation from the Author §8 The False Guide §9 The Theme of Being Lost §10 Moscow as a Dantean Hell §11 Circles and Lines in the Narrative Structure §12 The Image of the Corridor and Portal in Inferno and Moskva-Petushki §13 Purgatory and Petushki §14 Contrapasso and Venichka’s Death §15 Conclusion 7. Conclusion 8. Bibliography 9 Introduction As Venichka nears the end of his journey to Petushki in the Voinovo-Usad segment of his journey, having abandoned his hallucinatory war and not yet arrived at his final destination, he tells his reader of his refusal to repent: В моем сердце не было раскаяния. Я шел через луговины и пажити, через заросли шиповника и коровьи стада, мне в поле кланялись хлеба и улыбались васильки. Но, повторяю, в сердце не было раскаяния... Закатилось солнце, а я все шел. "Царица Небесная, как далеко еще до Петушков"! - сказал я сам себе. 1 In my heart there is no repentance. I walked through the meadows and the pastures, through the briar patches and the herds of cattle, the grain fields bowed before me and the cornflowers smiled.