La Republica on Ukraine

[Elena Gapova]

My point was about smth. else (which I did not make clear): not about the
child, supposedly consciously, rising for a "cause", but about the adult use
(and abuse) of the "child selfsacrifice" motif.

The difference with Gavroche - who was more or less believable (as was Ivan
in Tarkovsky's "Ivanovo detstvo") - is in the amount of "lies" (putting it
politely)that make one uncomfortable even reading the piece. "Bogdan"
bringing food and clothing to the supporters of Yanykovich, dying of cold
and hunger, or running on errands from one end of Kiev to another... which
is a city of three mln. with developed (and functioning) public
transportation etc. But it is, probably, the "heroic modality" in this urban
legend, which is the most cheap and unbearable.

So speaking about precursors: "children's crusades" come to (my) mind. The
same strife for glorious myth by the (organizing) adults, who later sold
many of the children into slavery.

e.g.



-----Original Message-----
From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
[mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU]On Behalf Of Alina Israeli
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 12:59 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] La Republica on Ukraine


Elena Gapova wrote:

>I was suspicious of the Pavlik Morozov story even as an oktyabrenok. But
>the genre seems undying. Here's a little gem.
>http://www.inopressa.ru/repubblica/2004/11/26/17:23:00/ukraina

Since I could not read this particular cyrrilic translit, I am grateful for
the URL.

The precursor to that little story is not Pavlik Morozov, but Gavroche of
Les Miserables (not a musicle but a novel by Victor Hugo). Maybe even
Gavroche had his precursors but I cannot remember off-hand (maybe someone
else remembers if this motif is elsewhere prior to the French revolution).
Gavroche was helping the insurgents, was a model of kindness and honesty
and was shot at the end.

Pavlik Morozov should have been a model for studying ethical dilemmas: What
is one to do when suspecting a member of your family of a crime. This is
the stuff tragedies were made of, when both outcomes are bad (и так плохо,
и так плохо). Pavlik Morozov would not be the only case in history. Quite
recently the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski was turned in by his family.

Also don't forget that Pavlik Morozov was murdered by his own family, which
makes him a perfect martyr in the tradition of Boris and Gleb.

__________________________
 Alina Israeli
 LFS, American University
 4400 Mass. Ave., NW
 Washington, DC 20016

 phone:    (202) 885-2387
 fax:      (202) 885-1076

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