Пестель vs. Пестель: трагедия Л. Зорина «Декабристы» и роман Б. Окуджавы «Бедный Авросимов»

Abstract

This paper undertakes a comparative analysis of two interpretations of Pavel Pestel’s personality and fate in the literature of the late Khrushchev thaw. The contribution of the peer writers to the liberation of cultural and historical memory from official dictatorship is discussed, the basis of their ideological similarity is shown: this is the awareness of the fatal problem of morality and revolution (Zorin). The author of the tragedy The Decembrists (1966) and the author of the novel Poor Avrosimov (published in 1969) worked with the same documents on the history of Decembrism, but each of them established his own hierarchy of sources. The article shows the difference between creative strategies and remarkable artistic results of both authors. Zorin, who surprised his contemporaries with his bold approach to a familiar topic, on the whole remained true to the spirit of the Decembrist myth. For the playwright, the memoir testimony of the priest Myslovsky (“Nothing shook his firmness”) was of paramount importance; therefore, even on the eve of his execution, Zorin’s hero is presented as a forward-looking fighter. The chief Decembrist in Okudzhava’s work is different: the concept of the novel is based on the facts that “in the first person” overturn the mythologized reputation of Pestel. This allows the modern writer to see the eternal – existential – nature in the old political tragedy. The context of Okudzhava’s creative search is formed not only by historical documents, but also by impressions from the Decembrists (a play and performance on the stage of the Sovremennik Theatre); the article underlines the main aspects of the polemical dialogue between the novelist and the playwright. While Zorin’s play skillfully updates the Decembrist mythology and Pestel’s personal myth, the myth in Okudzhava’s novel is reflected and hence overcome.