Russian Literature XXI (1987) 217-232 North-Holland

THE HUMOROUS PROFANATION OF THE SACRED IN BELYJ'S "MOSCOW" NOVELS

OLGA MULLER COOKE

Make no mistake about this: if there is any- one among you who fancies himself wise - wise, I mean, by the standards of this pass- ing age - he must become a fool to gain true wisdom. For the wisdom of this world is folly in God's sight. I Cor.:18-19

In his book, The Sacred and the Profane, Mircea Eliade describes the sacred territory that primitive man inhabited as "the center of the world".' This sa- cred space as "center" represents the exact realm, where earth communicated with heaven. Opposing the cosmic sphere, where religious man dwelt,was the profane world. Synonymous with chaos and dark, unknown forces, the profane world was the abode of non-religious man. In essence, it constituted everything that lies outside man's link with the divine. In other words, the sacred and the profane are mutually hostile worlds. Andrej Belyj's "M~~~~~"novels depict a universe, in which the sacred and the profane are not only inseparable, but complementary spheres. However, contrary to Eliade's pattern, Belyj asserts the primacy of cosmos over chaos by profaning the sacred. Belyj implements the profana- tion of the sacred by incorporating features from the carnival which utilize figural events from Christ's life, only in reverse. By humorously profaning that which is considered sacred, be it Christ's Passion, or scenes from the Old Testament, or even venerated texts such as Shakespeare's Hamlst, Belyj compels hisaudience to experience extreme conditions, such aslifeand death, as a unity. Professor Korobkin, the principal protago- nist of the "M~~~~~"novels, is equally at home in the sacred and profane worlds, but he prefers the profane, where he can defy taboos and suspend all expectations. The "Moscow" novels exhibit ambivalent humor of the carnival type which transforms everyday tensions into matters of play.2

218 Olga M. Cooke

However, the principal events in the "Moscow" novels hardly seem playful, for they revolve around. the possi- ble destruction of the world.3 In Moskva Professor Ivan Korobkin, a renowned mathematician, is responsible for making a discovery that can bring about the world's end, should his equations fall into evil hands. Enter Mandro, the arch villain, who entreats the professor to sell his calculations to a European firm. When the professor re- fuses to relinquish his secret, Mandro tortures him by burning his eye with a candle. At the conclusion of the novel, which also entails the outbreak of World War I, both Korobkin and Man&o go mad. Among Mandro's other crimes is murder and rape: he rapes his daughter, Liza- Sa, and murders a young boy in Rome. In Maski the half- blind Korobkin recovers his memory in an insane asylum. He not only undergoes a metamorphosis in the second. volume, but more so abandons science in pursuit of one quest: to forgive Mandro and to reunite him with LizaSa. Whereas in Moskva Man&o was the antagonist, in Maski he becomes the hunted victim. Just as Moskva is replete with allusions to Korobkin's symbolic Stations of the Cross,so Maski charts Man&o's via Dolorosa, his path to salvation.

The symbolic figure of Christ was embedded in Belyj's prose, not to mention his poetry and. memoirs, long be- fore Rudolf Steiner's theories on the Christ-impulse made their lasting influence on Belyj. Throughout Be- lyj's fiction Christological patterns motivate themes of crucifixion, death and resurrection. Belyj's short story, "Adam", which was written in 1907, is replete with Christological themes.4 In Serebrjanyj golub ’ the Christ-like elements in the characterization ofDar'jal'- skij find. expression in the figural via Dolorosa before Dar'jal'skij's death. However, the novel also introduces a parody of the Holy family in the persons of the Kude- jarov household. Nikolaj Ableuchov in Peterburg has been interpreted as a parody of Christ.' Furthermore, virtually all of Belyj's anthroposophical novels embrace motifs of Christ's crucifixion. Belyj's child-hero, Kotik, experiences a symbolic crucifixion in Kotik Letaev. In Zapiski dudaka the protagonist,Leonid Ledjanoj, symbol of Christ, is personified in Belyj's own atitobiographi- tally based imitation of Christ's life.6 Kregzenyj kitdee likewise makes references tomartyrdom and crucifixion.

But Korobkin poses a different problem for the "fic- tional transfiguration' of Christ.' Although Belyj seizes upon certain details from the archetypal Christ as drawn from the Gospels in his characterization of Korobkin, Belyj likewise draws from the tradition of the carnival, in which the Christ figure is mocked. Never before the "Moscow" novels had Belyj created a character who so

Profanation in BeZyj's "Moscou" NoveZs 219

thoroughly embodied both traditions. Rich in Scriptural echoes, Korobkin's persecution and trials are belittled. At the same time as Belyj draws from the Gospels for his depiction of Korobkin's sufferings, he creates sit- uations in which Korobkin acts as a clown. The develop- ment from total unawareness of his role in the redemp- tion and salvation of others to the acceptance of the Cross and willful heroic action encompasses different stages. Throughout Moskva there are intimations of Ko- robkin's divine role, but because he does not abandon his service to science until after he is tortured, his status is only that of a fool. His Golgotha may be au- thentic in that he proceeds through various levels of suffering before attaining enlightenment, but, none- theless, Korobkin is blind to the follies of his own dependence on rationality. Only in Maski does Korobkin undergo a thorough change of heart by rejecting the wisdom of the world and by becoming a hoZy fool.

Suggestions of Korobkin's topsy-turvy Christ-like role are echoed in sundry scenes in Moskva. For exam- ple, Korobkin, in his typical bungling manner, gets stuck on a nail in the presence of Mandro. However ri- diculous, this early event already provides a presenti- ment of subsequent Christological parallels. In the same scene he dons a cat instead of his hat, which the narrator terms a "crown of thorns" (1,256). Althouqh Mandro and Lizasa must suppress their l.aughter before their clumsy guest, nevertheless, the reader's laugh- ter is mixed with a tinge of irony. The tension be- tween Korobkin's buffoonery and his imminent crucifix- ion is still not dispelled in the scene involving Ko- robkin and Nadja, his daughter, in the country. It is here that allusions to Gospel passages alternate with the unsteady and mixed-up Christological path taken by Korobkin. For the first time Korobkin admits that his invention is in danger, and he informs his daughter that he must return to Moscow to destroy his equations. Korobkin's quip, "Esli by carstvo nauki nastalo, sluZi- teli naSi za nas podvizalis' by. <...> No ono - ne ot mira" (11,192), echoes Christ's words to Pilate: "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If it did, my followers would be fighting to save me from arrest from the Jews. My kingly authority comes from else- where" (John 18:35-37). Korobkin then adds: "Delo jas- noe : ne nachozu na sebe nikakoj ja viny" (11,192), which calls to mind Pilate's exclamation: "I find in him no fault at all" (John 18:39). As Korobkin pre- pares his voyage back to Moscow to face his, as yet, unknown Golgotha, t!le travelling bag that he throws over his shoulder is likened to a cross ("Cerez pleEo,

220 OZga M. Cooke

to&o krest, on nadel sakvoja? i bol'soj, i. pustoj (v nem katalsja odin karandasik)" (11,192). And his cracked derby hat, like the cat that he previously donned on his head, can be interpreted as a symbol for the crown of thorns, albeit humorously: "stasciv s golovy kote- lok, posmotrel na nego; vnov' nadel - gor'ko tronul- sja: v SoprovoZdenii Naden'ki" (11,192). While Korob- kin embarks on his journey to destroy his calculations "smertel'no skorbja", we are reminded of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane: "My heart is ready to break with grief" (Matthew 26:36). The scene in which Christ tells his disciples: "'Stop here, and stay awake with me'. He went on a little, fell on his face in prayer, and said, 'My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by"' (Matthew 26:39-40) is revisited in Korobkin's own garden, when Korobkin searches in vain for his garden- er: ll1 - pal na lice svoe: v dumy o tom, Eta - pribli- silos izto-to, Eta Easa - polna <...>, kriEa1 v temnyj dvorik: 'Popakin!' Otvetila molt"' (11,218-219). Just as Christ despaired in the Garden of Gethsemane while his disciples fell asleep, so Korobkin gropes for help in the night, but Popakin is asleep.

However, because Belyj incorporates carnival fea- tures in his novels, Korobkin's Christ-like role is profaned and rendered ridiculous. All of these pas- sages, replete with Scriptural allusions, likewise em- body inversions of biblical texts. In truth, Korobkin has not yet gained insight into the nature of his dis- covery: he is blind to his guilt. Moreover, the king- dom of science, to which Korobkin is still a slave, cannot be synonymous with the kingdom of God. Pilate's "I find in him no fault at all" is a direct reversal of Korobkin's guilt. In addition to this, the other accompanying symbols of Christ's Passion, namely, the Crown of Thorns and the Cross, are converted into com- ical props: Korobkin's travelling bag, we learn, con- tains a mere "little pencil", furthering the notion of his adherence to science. And his cracked derby hat is rendered a comical sight, as was the cat in the earli- er allusion to Korobkin's crown of thorns. Comic xe- versals are common features in the carnival; for exam- ple, figuresof high status are mocked and brought down to earth; trousers are placed on the head and clothing is worn inside out to illustrate the viola- tion of the expected, as well as the license with which authority can be abused.*

An even more telling inversion of a biblical scene takes place as Korobkin and Mandro are surrounded by a jeering mob near Korobkin's apartment, the scene of the torture. The mob hurls abuses at Korobkin, thus

Profanation in BeZyj's "Moscowff i'iiouels 221

recalling the mockery of Christ on His way to the Place of the Skull. In the chaotic activity of tugging, push- ing and tearing, the mob's cries contain double enten- dres as sounds get distorted:

- He ero, HO Bapp... - Bapsap... - PacnnH! TaK cnaranocb 113 KPIIKoB.

KpxsanM H(: - Banw!.. - AaJIeKo!..

- Ha Bapsapxy!.. - Pas... .QBa!,.

--HE CS'O!.. (12,205)

Although the rabble shouts out to push Korobkin toward Varvarka Street, the words "Vali", "Na Varvarku", "Razz . . . dva" and "Pni ego" are interpreted as "Varvar" and "Raspni". The latter cries naturally echo the scene in the Gospels, in which Christ appears before Pilate and the mob demands Pilate to "Crucify him!" (Matthew 27:22; Mark 15:13-14; Luke 23:22; John X9:15). "Ne ego, no Varr..." calls to mind the Scriptural "Not him: we want Barabbas!" (John f8:40), whereupon Pilate responded to the mob by releasing Barabbas and crucifying Christ.

Korobkin's sanctity, in view of his impending tor- ture, is undermined as the mob abuses him, though un- aware of whom it mocks. Unbeknownst to Xorobkin him- self, Korobkin is cast into the figurative role of Christ. Although the narrator directs Korobkin's vzZa Do Zorosa, he also is responsible for profaning the sa- cred, namely, Christ's Passion. Raising Korobkin to the status of a Christ and reducing him in size corre- sponds to the crowning and uncrowning motifs in the carnival. Reflecting a disregard for death, crowning and uncrowninq are ambivalent rituals in the carnival. The confusion inherent in the mob scene represents the typical topsy-turvy confusion of the carnival: social roles and values are inverted, as are the worldly and the spiritual; abuse transforms into praise and vice versa; the uncrowninq of the king at once destroys the old world and gives birth to the newe9

The authentic transformation of Korobkin only oc- curs after he loses his eye. After the torture Korob- kin merges with Christ. "Ja stalo putem, vyvodjascim za grani razbitych mirov" (11,245) harks backto Christ's response to Thomas' question on how one knows the way: "Jesus replied, '1 am the way; I am the truth and I am life; no one comes to the Father except by rne8'I (John

14:6f. Whereas in F/loskua Korobkin inadvertently resem-

222 Olga M. Cooke

bled the clown, in Maski he actively abandons the wis- dom of the world and becomes the holy fool. In Moskva he exhibited characteristics of the fool quite by ac- cident; in Maski he consciously dons the disheveled rags of a holy fool, assumes the sufferings of others and becomes a self-styled comic hero, intent on recon- ciling previous adversaries.

As a type with a recognizable set of characteris- tics, Korobkin continues the tradition of holy fools in literature, fools like Shakespeare's King Lear, Cer- vantes' Don Quixote and Dostoevskij's Prince Myskin. A composite of all these tragi-comic, mad and child-like fools, Korobkin acts at once heroically and comically. Like Lear, Quixote and Myskin before him, all of whom embody traits from Christ and the clown, Korobkin is ready to suffer for others, yet he unwittingly brings others to ruination. In constant confrontation with the realities of the world, Korobkin is unaware of the chasm between self and others. Nonetheless, Korobkin humorously endures and survives in the face of defeat, for his clownish exploits have the power of transcend- ing chaos and destruction. The more Korobkin profanes the sacred, the more he paradoxically paves the way for the forgiveness of his enemies. Korobkin's buffoon- ery provides a spontaneity and vitality necessary to cushion life's difficulties and to reconcile the death- laden characters and situations surrounding him. Al- though his heroic feats are incessantly on the verge of collapse, his infantile perspective results in a form of triumph. This is achieved primarily in the pro- fanation of the sacred, as the comic hero becomes the saviour.

Maski is filled with numerous scenes which accentu- ate the profanation of the sacred. For example, before Korobkin smuggles Mandro out of the Pell-Mel1 Hotel, Mandro is caught meditating on the emptiness of life, while relieving himself in the toilet.

0, cyeTa cyeT! <...>

0, paAOCTb CBOL?OFIbl, - He BCTB, Pi.llEI eCTb, I.iCnpaX- HRTbCR, kiJlb He MCnpaXH$iTbCR, ripen BneqyI!&iMw nwccya- paMu! (374)

In true Rabelaisian spirit, Mandro mixes passages from the Old Testament with bathroom imagery. "0, sueta su- et!" alludes to the opening passages of Ecclesiastes, however it is uttered in the same breath as "ispraHn- jat'sja, il' ne ispraHnjat'sja...". It may seem that the admixture of the vanity of all things with the question: "TO defecate or not to defecate" is incon-

Profanation in Belyj's "Moscow" NoveZs 223

gruous. And yet the one moment when Mandro, who is vir- tually imprisoned in the Pell-Mel1 Hotel, feels confi- dent that his privacy will be respected occurs during his ruminations on top of the so-called "brown Ameri- can armchair" (374). "TO defecate or not to defecate" is surely a parody of Hamlet's "to be or not to be" soliloquy. But whereas Shakespeare's diction goes hand in hand with Hamlet's meditation on death, Belyj's dic- tion seems hardly at harmony with Mandro's state of mind. However, the profanation of the sacred represents uninhibited expression and creative freedom. As in Shakespeare, low and high diction coexist.

The import of the biblical "0, sueta suet!" only be- comes evident when Mandro touches on the subjects of wind and water. Compare the Speaker's comments on the emptiness of all endeavor in Ecclesiastes 1:2-7:

Emptiness, emptiness, says the Speaker, emptiness, all is empty. What does man gain from all his labour and his toil here under the sun?...

The wind blows south, the wind blows north, round and round it goes and returns full circle. All streams run into the sea, yet the sea never overflows; back to the place from which the streams ran they return to run again.

with:

He60 - nycToe; HHKTO He OTMeTHT, KyAa YSIeTen: TaK

co6paBIuee BeTep B npHrOpuIHEi, B oaexqy cBfl3aBuee ~0gb1,

nycTaR nnJNo3lisi, - - "jy _

- CBON BblnyCTUT BeTpbI; BOAa yTeYeT: B nwccyapbl; M 6yaeT - "HWITO"! (375)

The biblical commentary on wind and water refers to the cyclical pattern of life and death forces. Every- thing returns to its source. Paradoxically, Mandro's allusions to the meaninglessness of life and lost il- lusions are apt as he urinates and calls to mind the vanity of all things. There is a realization that his "Ego" , his self, will disintegrate into a mere puff of wind. But the double entendre implied in "wind" means rather that, once he relieves himself, nothing will remain of him. "Voda utecet", besides referring to the biblical stream that returns to its source, also signifies Mandro's urine, in a sense, his life force. And the emptying of this life force into the urinal will result eventually in his demise. Hence,

224 Olga M. Cooke

the narrator locates one of Mandro's catharses in the toilet, where the concept of "purging" has a dual meaning.

For Bachtin, the images of defecating, eating and copulating are all linked to the theme of death-renew- al-fertility. Bachtin argues that, since the main events of life occur in the body, degrading all the functions of the body, regardless of the extent of their repulsive nature, allows man to control his fear of the cosmos. And through this control the world is veritably reborn. Hence, the profanation of the sacred essentially affirms life.

All of the organizing patterns of the theme of re- demption and expiation come to focus in the final scenes of Maski, where Korobkin effects a transforma- tion in the ex-rapist, murderer and sadist, Mandro. We witness a world turned upside down as Mandro and Korobkin traverse an incomprehensible path together, strewn with multiple reversals and surprises. Objec- tive reality vanishes as Mandro undergoes a physical mutation: this is in a tense relationship with what transpires spiritually. Mandro is now seen through the mask of the tragic hero. Profaning the sacred and, conversely, making sacred the profane, Korobkin topples every expectation necessary for Mandro's metamorphosis. And yet his humorous escapades prove to bring about that very metamorphosis which seemed impossible.

Upon entering the hotel in which Mandro is kept un- der surveillance by the secret police, Korobkin at first does not even recognize his former torturer. Up- on seeing his victim, Mandro, a shadow of his former self and ready for conversion, immediately sheds his masks: his false teeth, his wig and jewelry. But the comic buffoonery that ensues is at variance with the spiritual revelation at hand, for Korobkin indulges in eccentric behavior: he plays with Mandro's dentures; he arranges, leans on, adjusts, converses with and dances around Mandro's wig. As the professor stumbles and stutters in Mandro's presence, the wig increasing- ly grows into a symbol of the empty cup, life itself (397). The more Korobkin dwells on the wig, the more

we are reminded of Yorick's skull from Hamlet. However, as Korobkin holds the wig in the palm of his hand, echoing the scene in which Hamlet handles Yorick's skull, the wig is suddenly brought to life, as are mem- ories of Yorick. Likened to a "EaSa pustaja" (397), it is symbolically connected to the graveyard scene in HamZet, where the gravediggers, in typical gallows' humor, toss around skulls and pronounce riddles on death, all of which provide comic relief in the midst

Profanation in BeZyj's "Moscowr' Novels 225

of disaster." As a symbol of a mask that has been shed, one of the many layers of Mandro's decadent past, the wig is synonymous with death. Thus, the grisly hu- mor of the gravediggers and Hamlet reduces this symbol of mortality to a comic reminder of the inevitability of death. Laughing at death levels the fear of it and confirms that we are all equal in the face of it. The humorous treatment of death bears the additional fea- ture of relativizing it. However, as Mandro sheds his masks one by one in order to achieve a metamorphosis, the wig takes on life-affirming dimensions.

Furthermore, Xorobkin starts to speak in parables. When he says: "Kto pozdnee prisel, tot idet vperedi!" (397), he is echoing Christ's teaching in the parable of the landowner who pays his latecomer-laborers the same as the men who had come first, namely: "Thus will the last be the first, and the first last" (Matthew 20: 16; Mark 10:31). The message of this parable is partic- ularly apt in Mandro's case. Mandro may be considered the greatest of sinners, in a sense, the "last" person one would expect to be saved. Nevertheless, the redeem- ed Mandro is also the "first". All men are equal in the eyes of God. Hence, the last to realize they have erred are forgiven and enter the kingdom of God as the first. But at the same time as Belyj is drawing from the Gospels and patterning Korobkin's role after Christ, he creates a situation in which Korobkin acts as the clown. The sacred teachings of the Gospels are, thus, equally at home with Korobkin's humorous quips on the wig. In Billingsgate the humorous profanation of the sacred responds to the relativities and ambigui- ties of existence.

As Korobkin sets the stage for Mandro's reconcilia- tion with Lizasa, we witness a veritable via Dolorosa, that is, Mandro's path from the Pell-Mel1 Hotel, the site of condemnation, to the Titelev home, where Man- dro will be reunited with his daughter and where he will ultimately be caught for the last time by the po- lice. The episode which follows is pervaded with carni- val elements, like those which accompanied Korobkin be- fore his torture. Although it may seem incongruous that Mandro's Golgotha could be equated with Korobkin's,, nonetheless, at this point in the text, Mandro has wil- lingly succumbed to the trials set before him. More- over, the structural parallels between Mandro's and Korobkin's trials occur respectively at the end of' Mos- kva and at the end of Maski. Just as Mandro leads Ko- robkin to the scene of the crime in Moskva, so Korob- kin drags Mandro through the city, forcing Mandro to bear his own cross. Thus, the pattern of Mandro's Gol-

226 Olga M. Cooke

gotha incorporates elements of a mythic journey, by which Mandro undergoes initiation and rebirth. However, just as Korobkin's via DoZorosa is interspersed with characters who mock the Christ-figure, so does Mandro's journey continue the carnivalesque crowning and un- crowning motifs. All along the way to Mandro's symbolic Mount Calvary, things go wrong: minor characters in- trude upon their journey and assault them with uncanny references to Mandro's death; frightening situations turn into farce, obstacles contribute to reversing ex- pectations. In all, the humorous profanation of the sacred seems to diminish the momentous drama toward which Mandro is directed.

Throughout the final scenes describing the journey through the marketplaces of Moscow, Mandro and Korobkin encounter the very objects which will be used for Man- dro's death, namely, a coffin, sack and rope. Quite un- cannily, they pass a coffin along the road. However, the very box in which Mandro will be sealed after he is strangled with the rope and stuffed into a sack be- comes a plaything in the hands of Korobkin." Once again a symbol of death is transformed into a comical prop. Noticing that a rude young man spat on the cof- fin, Korobkin tosses it over his shoulder, as though it were a cross (409). Naturally, this alludes to car- rying Mandro's burden, bearing Mandro's suffering, as Christ bore the sins of mankind. However, Korobkin pro- ceeds to belittle this instrument of death as he slaps it, then sits on it. Soon the merchant in charge of de- livering the coffin to Madame Tigrovatko's, the loca- tion of Mandro's death, hurls abuses upon the two pas- sers-by: "'Ej, polzi, 6to li, dal'se: moj - jascik: ego ne lomaj'. <...> 'Ty - skoloti-ka ego'. Kto-to SEelknul orechom. Kakoj-to schvativsij rogogu sutnik podskoEi1 s nej, imeja nameren'e ktu rogoEu na pleci Mandro opro- kinut'; na jasEik pokazyval: 'Lez' tuda: Eem ne posudi- na? Tebja - gvozdjami zaljapaju, v Btu rogoEu zaZ.'ju: v 1uEsem vide" (409).

The merchant's savage curses, naturally, have double meanings, for the merchant looks upon his adversaries as trouble-makers, intent on damaging his coffin, while the reader is cognizant of Mandro's and Korobkin's spiritual quest. Those physical objects that will be involved in Mandro's death are here introduced as ob- jects of scorn. Abuse, thus, alternates with biblical references, insofar as Korobkin converts the coffin in- to a symbol of the cross. More double meanings emerge as a jester joins the merchant in his abuse. This char- acter inadvertently alludes to the manner of Mandro's death, unbeknownst to any of those present. Although

Profanation in BeZyj's "Mos~ow'~ Novels 227

the jester jokingly toys with the ominous suggestion of nailing Mandro to the coffin, the reader is sudden- ly aware that that is exactly the way Mandro will be killed. And yet this joke curbs the tragic action that is to come. The language of the marketplace brings ev- erything down to earth, even death. It occurs outside of the norms of official speech; hence, everything is permissible. By profaning death and by cursing Korob- kin and Mandro, the carnival humor here employed re- minds us that mortality as well as fallibility are laughable.

According to Bachtin, the traditional popular sys- tem of the carnival was steeped in death-laden symbols, abuses, thrashings, curses, etc., all of which illus- trated life-affirming principles of nature, nature which destroys and creates simultaneously. For Bachtin, thrashings, abuses and curses are simply symptomatic of the carnivalesque transcendence over death:

. . . KJlRTBbI C UX npO&aHkipymQEiM KyXOHHblM PaCWeiiefiHeM

cBmqemos0 Tena Bepaynlz Hat C... > K FpOTeCKHO-TeJIeCHOfi

TeMaTNKe ILIIOQaaHbIX IIpOKJIRTMfi W Pyi'aTeJIbCTB (6one3HH,

YPoWTBa, OpraHbI TenecHOrO HH3a). Bee nnoqagHbre 3ne-

MeHTbI < . ..> QaIOT eJJHHb& HeO@,aqHaJlbHbIfi aCneKT MIlpa -

HeO@i~HaJIbHbli KaK II0 CBOeMy TOHY (CMeX), TaK Ii II0

CBOeMy COflepHaHUM (MaTepHaJIbHO-TeJleCHbIfi HU3). Bee OHW

cBE3am.I c secenoii MaTepaeii Mupa, c TeM, rl~o poxcgaeT-

CR, ywipaeT M caM0 pox,qaeT, VITO nompaews H noxapa-

eT, HO YTO B IITOFe BCerAa PaCTeT W YMHOxKaeTCR, CTaHO-

BHTCFI bonbme, Bee SIywIe, Bee H306WIbHee. 3Ta BeceiIaR MaTepMFI aM6HBaJIeHTHa: OHa - M MOIwIa, EI POwaIOlqee JlO-

HO, u yxoAsnqee npyyoe, I-I HacTynanvqee 6ynyIqee; 3~0 -

caM0 CTaHoBneHNe.

The profanation of the sacred further develops in the reconciliation scene between LizaBa and her father:

- "UlTpaAaHbe!.."

- "UOJJIHaHEle EIOBeIUTN

UaMKaJI: 6e3 rIemocTn

! ”

na, yuIEi6HBImi KpecTeq;

- "KOlUTbIJIb 3aBeAy!"

Ho BeCb CTHCHYJICR B

HYJICR, B KapeopaHHteBoG

; PI KaK IIOAKOIUeHHblti, 3aAHHl&eZi

N - CMeRJICR:

KapeopaHHteBofi psaHx pacTac-

PBaHU: pbIJ&ZlJI. (420)

The entire reconciliation scene between Mandro and Li- zaSa can be characterized by two key words from this passage: "smejals ja" and “rydal". The comic awkward- ness of Mandro is weighed against the seriousness of his meeting with his daughter. Mandro resembles the

228 Olga M. Cooke

clown, whose comic pratfalls draw laughter, and yet he is a clown seeking forgiveness. His pitiful external demeanor, conveyed by his toothless state, renders him human. Ironically, the humor which Mandro generates by his lisping and by his clumsiness paves the way for his forgiveness, for Mandro purges himself from his past. Through his kinship with Korobkin, Mandro is transfigured; the masks which he has shed become ob- jects of ridicule. Furthermore, Mandro's quip, "Kos- tyl' zavedu", upon falling and hurting his sacrum, re- fers to Christ's instruction to the apostle Peter: "You are Peter, the Rock; and on this rock I will build my church, and the forces of death shall never overpower it" (Matthew 16:18-19). Forces of death shall never overcome Mandro's movement toward sanctity. The corre- lation between falling and building a church contains yet another association with Peter. However infallible Peter was in maintaining Christ's role on earth as head of the Church, Peter, nevertheless, betrayed Christ three times. At the heart of every great saint lies a sinner. And Mandro represents these inseparable dualities.

And yet Belyj continues to permeate the momentous drama between Mandro and Lizasa with still more humor, for at the same time as Mandro is seeking forgiveness from his daughter, Korobkin engages in a comic chase scene with his own brother, Nikanor. Briefly Korobkin clairvoyantly imagines the entire household going up in smoke, which indeed happens subsequently. However, as this portentous image appears, the narrator adds: "Pal gluboko polosatyj pajac v balagannyj svoj ljuk!" (440). As Korobkin and his brother adapt the manner- isms of the Commedia de/l'arte and the Keystone Cops, while they punch each other, fall, chase one another, etc., the reader becomes a spectator in a "balagan". The clowns are merely players in a drama called life. The simulated puppet show attests to the feeling that all is folly, that all the world's a stage. "Pal glu- boko polosatyj pajac v balagannyj svoj ljuk" simply signifies Korobkin's own trap, into which he falls helplessly. In the face of the disastrous explosion Korobkin tears the patch from his eye and listens to his brother's ironical remarks, as the police demand that all occupants of the Titelev household surrender: "I brat, ironigeski lokti pod boki, ladoni podbrasyva- et, vzdernuv ple5i - na brata, Ivana: 'Beliberda, brat!" (440). Nikanor reveals that "all is rubbish". In other words, all is folly. Nikanor's final words to Korobkin just moments before the bomb explodes attest to Korob- kin's earlier Heraclitean view of time as being a play-

Profanation in BeZyj's "Moscow" Novels 229

ing boy - "vecnost' - mladenec igrajuscij" (176). In- deed, all the players in Belyj's "Moscow" novels seem to merge with the most talented player of all, Belyj himself.

In conclusion, all of these incidences chart the characteristics by which we recognize the holy fools, Mandro and Korobkin. Stripped of social rank, defying taboos and disregarding social values, they become the targets of society's jokes. They publicly make fools of themselves, all for the sake of redemption and salva- tion. They follow the dictum found in I Corinthians: "Divine folly is wiser than the wisdom of man, and di- vine weakness stronger than man's strength" (I Cor.1: 25-26). Although many of the Christological patterns in Maski revolve around the chosen Christ-like path Korobkin follows,'3 only in the final pages of the nov- el do the two fools merge. In the spirit of the carni- val, the profanation of the sacred allows the two fools to transcend all dualities. Rather than view the sacred and the profane as two separate entities, existing in a state of tension, as Mircea Eliade maintains, Belyj invites us to view the sacred and the profane in a dia- lectical relationship, where one sphere is inseparable from the other. Humor as a form of play, when involved in the profanation of the sacred, paves the way for all the motifs of transformation and redemption. Al- though the novel ends with the possible destruction of all the protagonists, unwittingly brought on by Korob- kin himself, it does not diminish the sense of play, which motivates and directs our holy fools to their destinies.

University of California, Riverside

230 Olga M. Cooke

NOTES

1. Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane, trans. W.R.Trask (New York 1959), 36-37.

2. See Michail Bachtin, Tvorzestvo Fransua Rable i narodnaja kul'- tura srednevekov'ja i renessansa (Moskva 1965).

3. All citations will be drawn from the Munich reprints of the "Moscow" novels. Moskva (Moskva 1926), volume I, is divided into two parts, "Moskovskij Eudak" and "Moskva pod udarom". Henceforth, citations in the text will be followed by part and page number. Citations from Maski (Moskva 1932), volume II, will be simply followed by page number.

4. See Ronald E.Peterson on the Christological motifs in "Adam", in Andrei Bely's Short Prose (Birmingham 1980), 51-62.

5. See Ada Steinberg, "On the Structure of Parody in Belyj's Peter- burg", Slavica Hierosolymitana I, 1977, 132-157.

6. Samuel D.Cioran, "In the Imitation of Christ: A Study of Andrei Belyi's Zapiski &daka", CanadianSlavic Studies, IV, 1 (Spring 1970) , 74-92.

7. A "fictional transfiguration" is a "fictional narrative in which the characters and the action, irrespective of meaning or theme, are prefigured to a noticeable extent by figures and events popularly associated with the life of Jesus as it is known from the Gospels". See Theodore Ziolkowski, Fictional Transfigurations of Jesus (Princeton 1972), 6. Ziolkowski goes on to explain that transfigurations of Christ must not be con- fused with fictionalized biographies, such as the Imitatio Christi, whose subject is the historical Jesus, "not a modern hero whose life is prefigured by Jesus" (Op.cit.,l3). For a discussion of the biblical references in Moskva, see Ada Stein- berg, Word and Music in the Novels of Andrey Bely (Cambridge 1982) , 222-224; and also John D.Elsworth, Andrey Bely: A Criti- cal Study of the Novels (Cambridge 1983), 189-191.

8. See Michail Bachtin, Problemy pobtiki Dostoevskogo (Moskva 1963), 162-176; see also his Tvorzestvo Fransua Rable... (Op. cit.), 210-213. On the subject of carnival in the "Moscow"nov- els see Ada Steinberg, "The Embodiment of Theme and Colour in Bely's 'Urbanistic' Novels", Slavonic and East European Review LVII, 2, April 1979, 204-205, and her Word and Music in the Novels of Andrey Bely (Op.cit.), 222-223. Johannes Holthusen discusses the role of profanation in Peterburg on the basis of Bachtin's theories, in "Weltmodelle Moderner Slavischer Dich- ter: Andrej Belyj and Miroslav Krleia", Slavica Aenipontana, 2, 1978, 11. In his afterword to the 1978 edition of Peterburg, P.Antokol'skij also discusses the role of the carnival, 336.

9. See Michail Bachtin, Tvorzestvo Fxansua Rable... (Op.cit.), 211-212.

10. Incidentally, Belyj singled our Shakespeare's gravediggers' scene in his preface to Maski. See p.12.

Profanation in BeZyj's "Moscowf' Novels 231

11. The details of Mandro's death recall an earlier death scene in Belyj's oeuvre, namely, the death of Dar'jal'skij. Dar'- jal'skij, too, is choked with a rope, and upon his death his body is wrapped in bast matting. Unfortunately, the Berlin edition of Serebrjanyj golub' does not contain the original ending, which described Dar'jal'skij's naked corpse wrapped in a bast matting. See Andrej Belyj, Serebrjanyj golub' in Vesy, VI, 12, 1909; reprint (Liechtenstein 19681, 172.

12. See Michail Bachtin, Tvorzestvo Fransua Rable... (Op.cit), 211-212.

13. See pages 62, 122, 128,129, 134,168-g, 178,183, 191, 282, 309, 399, etc.