TURUN YLIOPISTON JULKAISUJA ANNALES UNIVERSITATIS TURKUENSIS SARJA - SER. B OSA - TOM. 317 HUMANIORA FANTASTIC IN FORM, AMBIGUOUS IN CONTENT: Secondary Worlds in soviet children’s Fantasy Fiction by Jenniliisa Salminen TURUN YLIOPISTO Turku 2009 ISBN 978-951-29-3804-9 (PRINT) ISBN 978-951-29-3805-6 (PDF) ISSN 0082-6987 Painosalama Oy – Turku, Finland 2009 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During the writing of this thesis, I have received help and advice from several people and instances for which I am very grateful. I would like to thank my supervisors Prof. Riitta Pyykkö and Prof. Maria Nikolajeva for constant support during the years of work. I am grateful to the pre-examiners Dr Ben Hellman and Prof. Arja Rosenholm for their comments and suggestions during the completion of the manuscript. I am also indebted to my colleagues who have offered their opinions regarding this study: especially to friends in the University of Turku Russian department research seminar and the Åbo Akademi ChiLPA group. In particular, I would like to thank Janina Orlov for valuable insight into Russian children’s literature. For financial support, I am grateful to the Åbo Akademi ChiLPA project, Suomen Kulttuurirahasto and Turun Yliopistosäätiö. I especially appreciate the University of Turku Russian department for offering me work opportunities during the writing process. I am also grateful to my family and friends for inspiration and understanding. Quoting Vitalij Gubarev: Да, чудесно жить на свете, если у тебя настоящие друзья! – Life is marvellous when you have true friends! CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1 1.1. The concept of secondary world ............................................................... 3 1.2. The history of secondary worlds in Russian children’s literature ............. 9 1.3. "All fantasy is based on reality" – Children’s fantasy as a part of Soviet literature ......................................................................................................... 17 1.4. The selection of material ......................................................................... 23 2. SECONDARY WORLDS IN TEXTS ........................................................... 26 2.1. The structure of secondary worlds .......................................................... 26 2.1.1. Subgenres of Soviet fantasy ............................................................. 26 2.1.1.1. Quest-oriented fantasies ............................................................ 29 2.1.1.2. Immersed fantasies .................................................................... 32 2.1.1.3. Intrusion fantasies ..................................................................... 33 2.1.1.4. Liminal fantasies ....................................................................... 35 2.1.1.5. Frame stories ............................................................................. 36 2.1.2. Multiple secondary worlds ............................................................... 38 2.2. The portrayal of the secondary worlds .................................................... 43 2.2.1. Location ........................................................................................... 43 2.2.2. Extent ............................................................................................... 46 2.2.3. Marginality of the space ................................................................... 48 2.3. The door to the secondary world ............................................................. 53 2.3.1. Spatial passages ............................................................................... 53 2.3.3. Image as a passage ........................................................................... 58 2.3.4. Transported by people or animals .................................................... 62 2.3.5. Dream and imagination .................................................................... 64 2.4. Time ........................................................................................................ 68 2.4.1. Time as a structural device ............................................................... 68 2.4.2. Time as a theme ............................................................................... 70 2.4.3. The absence of time-shift fantasy .................................................... 71 3. ELEMENTS OF SOCIALIST REALISM IN FANTASY ............................ 75 3.1. Propaganda .............................................................................................. 77 3.1.1. Children’s literature as a means of propaganda ............................... 77 3.1.2. Revolution in a fantasy world .......................................................... 78 3.1.2.1. Revolution of the masses .......................................................... 80 3.1.2.2. Rulers as negative characters .................................................... 87 3.1.2.1. Interpretations of the revolution in the secondary world .......... 91 3.1.3. War propaganda ............................................................................... 92 3.1.3.1. The folktale elements ................................................................ 93 3.1.3.2. Allusions to Germany ............................................................... 95 3.1.3.3. Reasons for using a secondary world ........................................ 98 3.1.4. The conflict of worlds ...................................................................... 99 3.1.4.1. Translations or retellings? ....................................................... 100 3.1.4.2. Individuality versus collectivity .............................................. 104 3.1.4.3. Active pursuit of happiness or opportunism ........................... 107 3.1.4.4. The enemy comes from outside .............................................. 109 3.1.4.5. Trusting the authorities ........................................................... 111 3.1.4.6. Can a child make a difference? ............................................... 114 3.2. Positive heroes – educating perfect children ......................................... 117 3.2.1. Perfect friends: spokesmen for collective happiness ..................... 118 3.2.2. Fathers and sons ............................................................................. 121 3.2.3. The importance of work ................................................................. 125 3.2.4. Adult heroes ................................................................................... 131 3.2.4.1. Traditional child and adult roles ............................................. 133 3.2.4.2. Reversed child and adult roles ................................................ 137 3.2.5. The double ..................................................................................... 142 4. CHALLENGING THE TRADITIONS OF SOCIALIST REALISM ......... 150 4.1. The Aesopian potential of secondary worlds ........................................ 150 4.1.1. Aesopian language ......................................................................... 151 4.1.2. The Land of Kaščej – secondary world as a screen ....................... 156 4.1.3. The Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors – clues for the reader .............. 158 4.2. Fantasy as a means of discussing difficult topics ................................. 165 4.2.1. The Death of a child ....................................................................... 165 4.2.1.1. Portrayal of child’s feelings about death................................. 166 4.2.1.2. The possibility of a happy ending ........................................... 168 4.2.2. The complicated relationship between children and adults ........... 173 4.2.2.1. The importance of growing up ................................................ 174 4.2.2.2. The land of oppressed children ............................................... 178 4.2.3. Making propaganda visible ............................................................ 183 4.2.3.1. Discussing the methods of propaganda ................................... 184 4.2.3.2. Children as the targets of propaganda ..................................... 187 5. CONCLUSIONS .......................................................................................... 189 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................ 191 Primary sources ............................................................................................ 191 Secondary sources ........................................................................................ 194 Archive and internet sources ........................................................................ 210 INDEX ............................................................................................................. 211 1. INTRODUCTION When thinking about Soviet children’s literature, fantasy is not the first genre to come to the mind of someone who has not lived a Soviet childhood. Instead, one probably thinks of politically-oriented socialist realist stories, overly optimistic celebrations of friendship between pioneers of different socialist countries, or colourfully illustrated folk tales of various Soviet nations. Likewise, the idea of secondary worlds in Soviet literature probably awakens images of science fiction, not fantasy. Yet, fantasy had a well-established tradition in the Soviet Union: for several generations of Soviet readers, characters like Buratino, Neznajka