Stalin and Belshazzar

[Nancy Condee]

Two references:

1. Of course, as the cinema scholars will remember, Iurii Kara's 1989
adaptation of Iskander, _Piry Valtasara, ili noch so Stalinym_;

2. In Sokurov's 1987 _Skorbnoye beschuvstviye (Anaesthesia Psychica
Dolorosa)_, the household boar was Belshazzar, a substitute in some ways of
'Boss' Mangan (and by extension, capitalism).

Prof. N. Condee
Dept. of Slavic Languages and Literatures
CL 1417
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
412-624-5906

-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
[mailto:SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Olga Meerson
Sent: Friday, February 01, 2008 6:38 PM
To: SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Stalin and Belshazzar

The etymology is of interest here: being Babylonian, the Bel may easily be
related to Baal. As he is Nebuchadnezzar's son, his pagan arrogance in
persisting as an idolater is well attested by Daniel. False gods are not
merely that but specifically connected to bloody human sacrifices, including
those of children--a topic most relevant and significant for Kotlovan.
Iskander merely picks up on popular symbolism inevitably connecting the
arrogant Babylonian tyrant whose kingdom will end imminently, to all the
modern tyrants, pre- or post-revolutionary, Stalin, Hitler or many of their
contemporary "wannabes". What matters is not whether Iskander's image is
classical or his innovation but that, even if it is an innovation, its
referent and significance are self-evident for everyone hearing about the
equation. The equation of Stalin (Hitler) is immediately relevant and
naturally recognizeable for anyone hearing about it, even for the first
time--just as the names Nebuchadnezzar, Be
lshazzar (Baltasar), or, even more obviously, Babel / Babylon, conjure up
the tyranny of idolatry in terms immediately and archetypally applicable to
very different epochs when people sense the tyrant's idolatrous and
cannibalistic tendencies in his customary hedonism. 
As for our earlier discussion about the yellow-eyed peasant writing on his
own coffin with his "pointing finger" (izobrazitel'nyj palets, rather than
index finger, ukazatel'nyj palets), writing with a finger on the verge of
death,l and on one's own coffin, tends to be prophetic--foretelling an
imminent death, fall from glory, or a more general appeal to the heavenly
Book of Destinies.  Jesus also writes on the sand with His finger as He is
about to face the woman taken in adultery and her self-righteous accusers
(beg. of John 8, finger, in verse 6). The only thing that complicates the
symbolism here (thereby enhancing it) is the question as to whose destiny is
being prophesied--that of the woman or that of her self-righteous accusers?
But the very complexity of this symbolism's referent only stresses its
archetypal nature: the accusers want Him to pronounce judgment but He
refuses to judge the way men do (verse 16 explains vs. 15), so His writing
on the sand with His finger 
symbolizes that He judges in ways that people do not. His is indeed and
izobrazitel'nyj palets, not merely an ukazatel'nyj.
o.m. 

 
----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Chandler <kcf19 at DIAL.PIPEX.COM>
Date: Friday, February 1, 2008 3:21 am
Subject: [SEELANGS] Stalin and Belshazzar

> Dear all,
> 
> Stalin has certainly more than once been identified with 
> Belshazzar; Fazil
> Iskander¹s novel Sandro of Chegem, contains a fine chapter titled
> ?Belshazzar's Feasts¹, in which the hero, a prominent member of an 
> Abkhaziandance troupe, meets Stalin at a banquet in Abkhazia in the 
> 1930¹s.
> Does anyone know of other times this identification has been made?  
> I would
> be especially interested if anyone knows of any instances, oral or 
> written,from the early 1930s.
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> Robert
> 
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