Tolstoy Question

[Alexandra Smith]

Quoting Judson Rosengrant <jrosengrant at EARTHLINK.NET>:

> If I may, I have a small question for students of Tolstoy and perhaps of
> nineteenth-century Russian domestic culture.  Near the end of the third
> paragraph of Chap. 29 of the Юность section of Tolstoy's trilogy, we find
> the following:
>
> Происходило ли это оттого, что прозаические воспоминания детства--линейка,
> простыня, капризничанье--были еще слишком свежи в памяти, или от отвращения,
> которое имеют очень молодые люди ко всему домашнему . . . , но только Володя
> еще до сих пор не смотрел на Катеньку, как на женщину.
>
> In an earlier draft Tolstoy had, Володя долго не мог переварить воспоминаний
> детства, слез, линейки, простыни, связанных с Катенькой. . .
------------------------
Dear Judson,

It seems to me that in the final version Tolstoy makes the erotic  
overtones, embedded in his draft version of the passage (related to  
Katen'ka) less explicit.
In the description of Karl Ivanovich in chapter 1 (Detstvo) one of the  
rulers is described as a tool used for punishment (it looks like a  
long ruler):

--На другой стене висели ландкарты, все почти изорванные, но искусно  
подкленные рукою Карла Иваныча. На третьей стене, в середине которой  
была дверь вниз, с одной стороны висели две линейки: одна -  
изрезанная, наша, другая - новенькая, собственная, употребляемая им  
более для поощрения, чем для линевания [...]

The passage quoted in your e-mail suggests to me that Tolstoy's  
narrator describes his period of puberty. He refers to his daydreaming  
(for which he was punished by his teacher, since he might have been  
lacking concentration during his lessons); his mood swings and his  
erotic dreams. The three words- lineika, prostynia and kapriznichan'e  
-- make perfect sense if you read them in the context of changes that  
happen to boys during puberty. Tolstoy suggests that his character's  
memories were unromantic and embarrassing; and he also says that some  
young men grow to hate these memories and tend to suppress them (he  
uses a strong word "otvrashchenie"). In chapter one "Karl Ivanovich"  
(Detstvo) Tolstoy's narrator  already  mentions the fact that he had  
some dreams that he didn't want to discuss with Karl Ivanovich, his  
teacher, who came to wake him up. The chapter starts with the  
reference to the character's tenth birthday.

with best wishes,
Alexandra

-----------------------------------------
Alexandra Smith (PhD, University of London)
Reader in Russian Studies
Department of European Languages and Cultures
School of  Languages, Literatures and Cultures
The University of Edinburgh
David Hume Tower
George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9JX
UK

tel. +44-(0)131-6511381
fax: +44- (0)131 -651 -1482
e-mail: Alexandra.Smith at ed.ac.uk





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