One paper in search of a panel (AAASS, Nov. 1995)

[Steve Baehr]

Pardon the following neskromnyi vopros, but just in case...

   Is anybody organizing a panel for AAASS in Washington that
still might have room for a paper on Griboedov?
The paper is called "Is Moscow Burning: Fire in Griboedov's Gore ot uma."
Paper description follows:

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------


     In Griboedov's comedy "Gore ot uma" ( Woe from Wit", 1823-28) imagery of
fire plays a central structural role. In the play, fire is polysemous,
summarizing the essential themes of the play on a number of different levels.
>>From the names of major characters (including the protagonist--whose name was
originally CHADskii, coming from the word for "fumes" or "smoke"--and
ZAGORETskii /from "zagoret'sia": to catch fire/) to the frequent images of
fire, flame, fumes, and smoke, the idea is implicit in the play that Moscow
is "burning". In this article, I shall contend that fire imagery provided a
fitting frame for the period about which Griboedov was writing, beginning with
the 1812 burning of Moscow to save the city from Napoleon and ending just
before the sparks" of the Decembrists and the attempts to extinguish
them by what Nikolai Turgenev called the "gasil'niki" (the "extinguishers").

     The article will show how the structure of "Gore ot uma" is to a great
extent based on a punning interplay between words formed from two
similar-sounding roots--GORET'/"to burn" and GORE/"woe"--and on their
interaction with words formed from the root "UM" ( mind"/"wit"). Thus the
structure of "Gore ot uma" is, in effect, defined by its title, focusing on
ways that the "intelligent" ("UM-nyi") Chatskii receives "woe" ("GORE ) as a
result of his "wit" ("UM") from a Moscow society that is "burning" (GORIT)
with stupidity and prejudice and that tries to extinguish all intellectual and
emotional "ardor" ("pylkost'":etymologically "burning").

     The article will deal with several layers of fire imagery: the fire of
passion (Chatskii); images of a "burning city" in the play; and the
"fire" of secret societies.  As I shall show, the tension between the
fire of 1812 (which , as Griboedov shows,
led to a "rebuilding" of Moscow only on the surface) and the contemporary fire
of secret societies motivates much of the action of Griboedov's
comedy. Indeed, the play advocates a purgative fire that will eliminate old
prejudices and "enlighten" Russia, unlike the fire of 1812, which produced a
rebuilt Moscow where "the houses are new, but the prejudices old".
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Could any potential "pyromaniacs" contact me at:
        slbaehr at vtvm1.cc.vt.edu
             or
        slbaehr at vtvm1.bitnet

Thanks.

        Steve Baehr
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stephen Baehr
Professor of Russian
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0225
(703) 231-8323
E-mail: slbaehr at vtvm1.cc.vt.edu