La Republica on Ukraine

[Clayton Hanson]

If I may point out, the French Revolutionary prototype is not the character of Gavroche in Les Miserables (though he would be more familiar to most of us because of his literary origin), but rather Joseph Bara, the 13 year old drummer boy probably killed by the Vendeens in 1793. The latter's death was propagandized heavily despite, once again, his actual death occuring under rather ambiguous circumstances.  For example, he was the subject of several paintings, including the unfinished treatment by Jacques-Louis David of 1794, and streets and schools were and are named in his honor.

-Clayton Hanson


On Wed, 1 Dec 2004, Lilya Kaganovsky wrote:

> In the same vein, I was also struck by the 'socialist realist' quality
> of the language ("the story of a boy, who risked his life for the
> revolution," sounds all too familiar). Typically, he has to almost die
> in the snow in order to become recognized as a hero, and of course, he
> must declare his willingness to return to work, just as soon as he is
> able.
>
> -Lilya Kaganovsky
>
>
> On Nov 30, 2004, at 12:34 PM, Elena Gapova wrote:
>
>> 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 ( $B'Z (B
>> $B'd'Q'\ (B
>>  $B'a']'`'g'` (B,
>>  $B'Z (B  $B'd'Q'\ (B  $B'a']'`'g'` (B). 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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>
> *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *
>
> Lilya Kaganovsky, Assistant Professor
> University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
> Program in Comparative Literature & World Literature
> Department of Slavic Languages and Literature
> Unit for Cinema Studies
>
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