Lapteva N. A.

The System of Images in F. I. Chudakov’s Autobiographical Short Story “Editorial Meeting” P. 91-99.

UDC 821.161.1-32.09«19»

DOI 10.37724/RSU.2020.68.3.010

 

The article analyzes prose fiction written by F. I. Chudakov (1888–1918), a Russian writer whose works have been recently rescued from their century-long oblivion to which they were consigned for ideological reasons. F. I. Chudakov’s works that have been recently published in two volumes and are now accessible to a wide range of readers are largely underinvestigated. This consideration and the fact that the writer’s personality and his literary legacy arouse readers’ interest account for the relevance of the article.

Being a participant of the revolutionary movement, F. I. Chudakov was arrested, imprisoned, and exiled, but managed to escape. The article analyzes F. I. Chudakov’s autobiographical short story “Editorial Meeting” (1911) to investigate the characters placed in ideology-based oppositions: political — power; Socialist-Revolutionary — Social Democrat. They do not only show the real state of pre-revolutionary events, they embody the writer’s concept of personality. A character’s place in the system of images depends on his attribution to this or that social-political party. However, the analysis shows that a character’s place in the system of images greatly depends on that character’s personal qualities which are highly valued by Chudakov. Socialist-revolutionaries united in a common task of creating a handwritten intra-prison newspaper are shown as a politically active group capable of fighting for their ideals even in custody. Many characters have their own peculiarities, such as nicknames, characteristic features, unique speech patterns. Social Democrats, on the other hand, are shown in a highly generalized way and are devoid of personal characteristics. They are selfish and unscrupulous. They neglect their common task. Being corrupted and degenerated, jailers are depicted as creatures totally devoid of human characteristics. Characters’ rectitude and integrity are intricately linked with those characters’ attitude to the handwritten newspaper. The author’s attitude to his characters is masterfully shown through the device of defeated expectancy.

 

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