Kotlovan: such'ya zazhimka

[David Powelstock]

Robert,

Zhachev's confidence is an important consideration, to be sure, but one
needn't conclude from Zhachev's use of such a figure that he despairs of a
solution or that there is no way out. If it does describe the situation
(rather than the person), then it's a descriptive exclamation, as the
exclamation mark that follows it suggests. Why would the use of it in
describing a situation (*brought about* by the activist) signal any greater
vexation than the use in describing the person? And, as Olga points out, the
situation with dogs is also resolved, eventually. The usage of zazhimka
attested by Kuznetsov, which I reproduced in my last post, seems to make
more sense in the context than an unattested usage of zazhimka as referring
to the person, especially if one takes into account the unexplained (but,
again, not impossible) use of the feminine noun to apply to a man, when
there exists a perfectly synonymous masculine variant, "zazhim."

Let me give an example of why one shouldn't be too hasty in assuming that
zazhimka applies to the person. Imagine that you were not familiar with the
expression, "elki-palki." You encounter the following sentence: "Ia tak i
znal, chto oni svolochi,elki-palki!" It would be plausible to infer that
"elki-palki" had the same referent as "svolochi," but in this case the
inference would be wrong. "Elki-palki" is a generalized The situation at
hand is analogous. The position of such'ia zazhimka in Platonov's sentence
tells us little, if anything, about its referent. 

Cheers,
David P.

-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
[mailto:SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Robert Chandler

David's suggestion that zazhimka refers to the situation refer than to the
activist himself is an appealing one, but I still don't think it quite fits.
Zhachev is usually supremely confident of being able to achieve what he
wants.  It would be unlike him to think of there being no way out of a
situation.  And there certainly is a way out in this case; the activist will
be murdered about 15 lines later!

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