Образ большевиков в сатирической поэме Lolo «О черте лысом и о всех его присных (Конец красной сказки)»

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the analysis of Lolo’s 1922 satirical poem “About the Bald Devil and All His Kind (the End of the Red Fairy Tale)”. Scientific novelty of the study is accounted for by the fact that the poetic satire of the Russian émigré community of 1920-1925 is little studied. The analysed image of the Bolsheviks is one of the key images in the satirical poetry of the Russian émigré community in the first half of the 1920s. The study expands our understanding of relevant topics and problems in the poetry of the Russian émigré community and also makes it possible to introduce into scientific use a work that has not yet become the object of research. The aim of the paper is to identify the features of the satirical depiction of the Bolsheviks and the means of achieving a satirical effect in the poem under consideration. As a result, it has been found that in order to achieve a satirical effect, the poet uses hyperbolisation, gradation, oxymoron, juxtaposition and such vices as immorality, greed, cruelty, bloodlust are castigated through the images of the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks are portrayed as the main cause of Russia’s internal ills, in particular poverty and hunger. The author also emphasises the commonality between the image of the Bolsheviks in the poem and the images of the Bolsheviks found in satirical poems published in periodicals of the Russian émigré community.