Образотворення єврейського погрому в оповіданнях Марії Конопніцької „Mendel Gdański” (1890) і Леоніда Пахаревського „Батько” (1906): порівняльний аспект

Abstract

The paper analyzes the images of the Jewish pohrom in the short stories written by a Polish writer Maria Konopnicka “Mendel Gdański” (1890) and by the Ukrainian writer Leonid Pakharevsky “The Father” (1906). The research is made within a framework of comparative analysis. Both authors depict pohroms with an image of an old Jewish man caring for his children or grandchildren. In the wake of anti-Jewish riots the protagonists are undergoing deep personal changes. Mendel loses his love for his city, while Leisor loses his passionary illusions and became involved in an armed struggle for freedom. Konopnicka focuses on the natural belonging of the Jewish population to Polish society and more broadly to the Eastern European multicultural space. Pakharevsky outlines the generation gap. While the older Jews accepts death without resistance, guided by faith in the promised biblical land, the younger Jews denies these illusions and defends their life resolutely. In addition, Konopnicka and Pakharevsky are looking for preconditions for the pohrom. According to them, the only reasons are social prejudices, stereotypes, as well as a criminal factor, to wit the role of criminals and lumpen in anti-Semitic actions. Both short stories use the technique of instilling a sense of danger, although Pakharevsky’s story begins with a scene of fire and a direct attack. Eventually, the pohroms indeed lead to a real escalation of hostility and a painful rift between the Jewish and non-Jewish worlds. In closing, these stories are not only about the genesis and the course of anti-Semitic pohroms, but also universal categories. Importantly, the process of self-determination of the Jewish people nowadays and the renewal of Jewish identity are intelligently represented here.