To Agricultural Executives with No Practical Skills of Their Own

Introduction. The satirical legacy of Kalmyk writer Basang B. Dordzhiev (1918–1969) includes both separate fables and one fable cycle created in 1961. The poet’s addresses to the genre of fable were not that often and never regular, the former witnessed mainly by the 1960s. The fables were published both in periodicals and in author’s editions. None of the fables have been translated into Russian. Neither have those become objects of research — except for our articles. Materials and methods. The study examines the fable cycle titled ‘To Agricultural Executives with No Practical Skills of Their Own’ (Kalm. Edär ed kedgo edl-akhun γardachnrt) by B. Dordzhiev and his sociallyoriented fables of the 1960s published in journals. The historical literary and comparative methods prove instrumental in defining genre differentiations within B. Dordzhiev’s satirical heritage ― fables, fable cycle, poetic feuilleton, and their characteristics. Goals. The article attempts insights into the fable cycle containing social criticism over incompetent directors of state-owned agricultural enterprises, revisits a number of other social fables dated to the 1960s. Results. To Agricultural Executives with No Practical Skills of Their Own comprises four fables, their titles clearly identifying themes and motifs, satirical types, and relations to folklore. The social orientation of the works coexists with moralities typical for other fables of this period. Conclusions. Despite that B. Dordzhiev, as a rule, mentioned no genre differentiations for his satirical works, this cycle can be identified as fable. This is indicated by both contents and form of the works, obligatory moralities at the end of each narrative, didactic aspect, and style. Some of the poet’s poetic feuilletons also draw satirical portraits of his contemporary rural officials

Aesthetics · Art · Criticism · Fable · Folklore · Literature · Poetics · Poetry · History · Social and Behavioral Studies · Sociopolitical Dynamics in Russia