Books of Laughter and Forgetting
Satire and Trauma in the Novels of Il'f and Petrov
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4211080 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Maya Vinokour (0000-0001-6369-997X, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 74 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 334-353 |
| Publication date | 2015-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Slavic Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0037-6779 • E-ISSN: 2325-7784 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.5612/slavicreview.74.2.334 |
| OpenAlex | W3139895909 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 10 |
The Soviet 1920s and '30s saw heated debate around the issue of laughter, with writers and political actors alike asking, should the Soviet person laugh at all, and if so, how? This article considers the birth of Soviet laughter as reflected in Il'ia Il'f and Evgenii Petrov's popular satirical novels,The Twelve Chairs(1928) andThe Golden Calf(1931). I argue that Il'f and Petrov's relatively consistent critical unassailability throughout the Soviet period rests on two techniques. First, they acknowledge trauma without dwelling on it-it is always already in the past, with dramatic focus placed instead on the socialist future. Second, they encourage collective, outward-oriented laughter, stimulating Soviet citizens to unite themselves against the possible enemies of socialism. Thus, despite its inclusion of some subversive elements (like the ideologically volatile trickster Ostap Bender), Il'f and Petrov's satire was at the vanguard of what became official literary ideology
Ancient history · Art · Communism · Ideology · Laughter · Literature · Political science · Politics · Psychoanalysis · Socialism · Trickster · Vanguard · Eastern European Communism and Reforms · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics · History · Law · Psychology · Soviet and Russian History
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2024 (3) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |