Farmer, Rachel S. (1997) The life and works of Vladimir Voinovich : the satirist as exile. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham. Access from the University of Nottingham repository: http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/11582/1/363647.pdf Copyright and reuse: The Nottingham ePrints service makes this work by researchers of the University of Nottingham available open access under the following conditions. · Copyright and all moral rights to the version of the paper presented here belong to the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. · To the extent reasonable and practicable the material made available in Nottingham ePrints has been checked for eligibility before being made available. · Copies of full items can be used for personal research or study, educational, or not- for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge provided that the authors, title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way. · Quotations or similar reproductions must be sufficiently acknowledged. Please see our full end user licence at: http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/end_user_agreement.pdf A note on versions: The version presented here may differ from the published version or from the version of record. If you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher’s version. Please see the repository url above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE LIFE AND WORKS OF VLADIMIR VOINOVICH: THE SATIRIST AS EXILE by Rachel S. Farmer B. A. Hons Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy July 1997 ýpZTINGF/gM G >. 2ý`FRSirv 1 CONTENTS ABSTRACT v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vi INTRODUCTION 1 1. THE LIFE AND EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF THE WRITER VLADIMIR VOINOVICH 4 The Biography of Vladimir Voinovich 5 Socialist Realism 13 `Youth Prose' 17 `Village Prose' 18 Urban Prose or Byt 21 Conflict in the Sixties 23 Reading Between the Lines 24 Socialist Realism in the Seventies 25 Voinovich and the Theory of Socialist Realism 27 Satire 31 2. THE IDEAL AND THE REALITY: EMERGING THEMES IN VOINOVICH'S PERIPHERAL WORKS UP TO 1980 39 The Countryside 41 The City 53 The Changing Face of Socialist Realism 56 The Hero 59 The Average and the Extraordinary 65 The Individual 69 Love, Sex and Marriage 75 The Power of the Word 87 Morality 94 11 3. THE LIFE AND EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF PRIVATE IVAN CHONKIN: THE STRUCTURE AND EXPOSURE OF THE ABSURD WORLD 96 THEABSURD WORLD: 97 Ritual Behaviour 100 Ritual Language 104 Specious Logic 114 Rules Imperfectly Understood 116 Socialist Realism 120 THE REAL WORLD: 124 Chonkin as Antidote to Socialist Realism 124 Boots 126 Mud 132 Animals 132 Scatology 133 Dreams 135 4. CHONKIN: UNIVERSAL HERO, UNIVERSAL FOOL 141 NARRATIVE STYLE: 141 The Anecdote 142 The Narrator 145 The Structural Development of the Text 163 Characterisation 170 The Characters 172 CHONKIN'S LITERARY AND PRE-LITERARY PEDIGREE: 180 The Fool 180 The Natural Man 185 111 5. THE WRITER: THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE SYSTEM 191 The Reluctant Fangre 191 Totalitarianism Explored 194 Parody and Prophecy 201 The Hierarchy of Writers 212 Stupid Galileo 216 Return 217 Correcting Versions of the Past 221 Allegories 224 New Satires 228 Unveiling the Grand Design 230 6. THE SATIRIST AS EXILE 238 States of Exile 238 Individualism 239 Finding a Voice 240 Censorship 240 THE WRITER: 241 Satire and Dissidence 244 How Chonkin Spoiled the Life of the Author 245 Emigration 248 REINTEGRATION: 250 Settling Scores and Dealing with Criticism 252 Engagement with Politics 255 The Future of Russian Literature 257 The Fool, Galileo and Voinovich 263 The Future for Voinovich 265 CONCLUSION 267 IV BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PRIMARY SOURCES 270 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SECONDARY MATERIALS 284 SECONDARY MATERIALS PUBLISHED ANONYMOUSLY 298 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BACKGROUND MATERIALS 299 APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW WITH VLADIMIR VOINOVICH, NOTTINGHAM, 19 MARCH 1996, R. FARMER Al-A28 APPENDIX B: Gurzheeva,L. B. and M. A. Skopina, `Zolotoi ukol', Russkii iazyk za rubezhom, 1(1967), 76-80 B1-B4 V ABSTRACT This study undertakes an examination of the life and works of the satirist Vladimir Voinovich, set in the context of satire in general, and in particular against the changing political, ideological and artistic background of the Soviet Union and the new Russia. It is demonstrated that in certain respects he is typical of his generation and in others an exception. The analysis shows how Voinovich's work gradually diverged from the accepted norms of Socialist Realism, leading him into conflict with the state and into increasingly satirical modes of expression. It is suggested that every satirist is to some extent an exile, since detachment is required from the society which is the object of the satirical impulse. The notion is studied that Voinovich became firstly an ideological exile, and compounded this with a form of chronological exile by expressing himself satirically at the `wrong' time, before consequently becoming also a geographical exile. Detailed attention is paid to his novel Zhizn' i neobychainye prikliucheniia soldata Ivana Chonkina, which proved to be a turning point in both his life and work. The hero of this novel has his pedigree in the Russian tradition of the plain- speaking fool Ivanushka-durachok who wins out in spite of circumstances, and it is suggested that he shares certain characteristics with his creator. The writing of Chonkin sealed Voinovich's fate as an emerging `dissident', and after its unauthorised publication abroad, he was persuaded to leave the Soviet Union. In emigration the question arose of how to engage relevantly with his readership in the rapidly changing Soviet Union. Despite the trauma of dislocation, Voinovich continued to write creatively in emigration and then in partial return to post-glasnost' Russia. The new Russia provides fertile ground for satire, but the returning satirist faces the question, now and in the future, of what type of expression is appropriate in a nascent democracy which he instinctively wishes to protect and support, rather than censure. Voinovich's solutions are diverse, and sometimes unexpected. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study was made possible by the advice and encouragement of the following people, to whom I would like to express my appreciation. My greatest debt is to Dr Lesley Milne, my thesis supervisor, who was consistentlyencouraging and inspiring. I am also grateful to all thosein the Department of Slavonic Studies at the University of Nottingham who have helped me or taken an interest in my research. I am indebted to the Ford Foundation, to IRSCEES and to the Department of Slavonic Studies at the University of Nottingham for contributing to the funding of my research visits to Russia and of Voinovich's visit to Nottingham. I would like to thank the staff at the libraries of the University of Nottingham, the University of California at Riverside,the StateLibrary of Moscow and the Publichnaia and Teatral'naia Libraries of St Petersburg for their help in my research. Martin Dewhirst of the Department of Slavonic Languages and literatures at the University of Glasgow provided a one-manbibliographical service out of the kindness of his heart. Thanks are due also to three generationsof closefamily who have provided support, and especially to my husband and children who have been endlessly understanding and patient. Finally I would like to express a special debt of gratitude to Vladimir Voinovich himself for his time, patience,hospitality and friendship. INTRODUCTION Vladimir Voinovich is now in his mid-sixties and has been writing and publishing for four decades. In some ways he is typical of his generation, and in others he has chosen his own path. His life has been set in `interesting times' which have spanned the period of the `thaws' through the era of `stagnation' and onto the momentous upheavals of glasnost' and perestroika with their aftermath. Previous PhD theses have covered aspects of his work and of his life in the period up to glasnost',1 and substantialstudies by Robert Porter, Geoffrey Hosking and Karen Ryan-Hayes2 have focused on certain periods and facets of his 1 Carol Elizabeth Pearce, `The Prose Works of Vladimir Voinovich', abstract in DAI, 43 (1982), 12A, 3933, University of Washington. Sally Anne Perryman, 'Vladimir VojnoviZ: The Evolution of a Satirical Soviet Writer', Ph. D, Vanderbilt University, 1981; abstract in DAI, 42.4 (October 1981), 1660-A, 8120213. Karen Lee Ryan-Hayes, `Soviet Satire After the Thaw: Tvardovskij, Solienicyn, VojnoviZ and Iskander', Ph. D, University of Michigan, 1986; abstract in DAI, 47.3 (September 1986), 929-A, DA8612617. Wlodzimierz Rybarkiewicz, 'Scapegoat and Fool in HaAek, Brecht and Voinovich'; Ph. D, University of Oregon, 1992; abstractin DAI, 53.9 (March 1993), 3205-A, DA9238955. Sandra Mary Thomson, '77w Life and Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin by Vladimir Voinovich: A Commentary and Explication', Ph. D, University of British Columbia, Canada, 1981; in DAI 42.12 (June 1982), 5143-A. abstract , 2 R. C. Porter, `Thinking Differently', Index on Censorship,5.4 (Winter 1976), 87-90. R. C. Porter, `Vladimir Voinovich and the Comedy of Innocence',Forum/or Modern Language Studies, 26.2 (April 1980), 97-108. Robert Porter, `Animal Magic in Solzhenitsyn, Rasputin, and Voynovich', Modern Languages Review, 82.3 (1987), 675-684. Robert Porter, Four Contemporary Russian Writers (Oxford: Berg, 1989), pp. 87-128. Robert Porter, Russia's Alternative Prose (Oxford: Berg, 1994). Geoffrey A. Hosking, Beyond Socialist Realism: Soviet Fiction Since 'Ivan Denisovich' (London: Granada, 1980; NY: Holmes & Meier, 1980). Geoffrey Hosking, `Profile. Vladimir Voinovich', Index on Censorship, 9.4 (August 1980), 19-22. Geoffrey Hosking, `Vladimir Voinovich: Chonkin and After', The Third Wave: Russian literature in Fmnigration, Conference of Russian Writers in Emigration, 14-16 May, 1981 at U.