ТЕМА КОЛОНИЗАЦИИ В РОМАНЕ КЕДРА МИТРЕЯ «ТЯЖКОЕ ИГО»

Abstract

This article is devoted to the problem of internal colonization of the north of Udmurtia on the example of Kedra Mitrey’s anti-church novel “Heavy Yoke”. Kedra Mitrey (Dmitry Ivanovitch Korepanov, 1892–1949) depicts the process of Christianization as one of the main instruments in the colonization of the Udmurts in the 19th century. Local residents adopt the skills of land cultivation from Russian settlers. Udmurts and Russians form interethnic families. The Udmurt peasant Dangyr and the Russian priest Ilariy are key characters in the novel. Dangyr has a negative attitude towards the construction of a new second church, since Ilariy uses most of the resources for personal selfish purposes. At the same time, Dangyr is drawn to reading and writing, without renouncing the pagan faith, he is baptized and learns the Russian language at a church school. The author of the novel sympathizes with Dangyr, but the priest Ilariy, conceived as a negative character, begins to reveal himself as a complex and contradictory figure. To fulfill his Orthodox mission, Ilariy learns the Udmurt language, gets acquainted with the faith and customs of the local population, and temporarily exempts baptized peasants from paying taxes. According to Kedra Mitrey, integration into the Russian space is a great boon for the Udmurts, but the tsarist policy, aimed at forcible Christianization and justifying the arbitrariness of local officials, most often turns into evil and becomes a ‘heavy yoke’ for the people.