CHARACTER DRAWING IN THE GENRE OF A TRAGEDY-LEGEND IN THE UDMURT LITERATURE OF THE LAST DECADE OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Tatiana Zaitseva; Raisia Kudryavtseva; Natalia Ilina; Tatiana Belyaeva; Natalia Kondratieva; Albina Myshkina

CHARACTER DRAWING IN THE GENRE OF A TRAGEDY-LEGEND
IN THE UDMURT LITERATURE OF THE LAST DECADE OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Tatiana Zaitseva¹, Raisia Kudryavtseva², Natalia Ilina³, Tatiana Belyaeva⁴* Natalia Kondratieva⁵, Albina Myshkina⁶
¹Prof. Dr., Udmurt State University, RUSSIA, uawoz@rambler.ru
²Prof. Dr., Mari State University, RUSSIA, kudsebs@rambler.ru

³Assoc. Prof., Udmurt State University, RUSSIA, natilina@yandex.ru
⁴Assoc. Prof., Mari State University, RUSSIA, sokolova_beljaeva@mail.ru

⁵Prof. Dr., Udmurt State University, RUSSIA, nataljakondratjeva@yandex.ru
⁶Prof. Dr., I.N. Ulianov Chuvash State University, RUSSIA, alb-myshkina@mail.ru
*Corresponding author

Abstract

The article deals with the analysis of the peculiarities of character drawing in the genre of a tragedy-legend in the Udmurt literature of the end of the 20th century, with a focus on the plays “Ebga” by P. Zakharov and “Esh-Terek” by Ye. Zagrebin.

The research is carried out within the theory and methodology of the paradigm known as “poetics”. The focus of the research is on the analysis of the poetics of characters in modern tragedy, based on the reconstruction of historic events according to the Udmurt folklore narratives. The historic experience of Udmurts is undoubtedly projected onto the present.
The tragic conflict of the play “Ebga” by P. Zakharov is manifold: tribal rivalry, the conflict between the individual and the communal, religious contradictions. The dramatism of the tragic conflict, reflecting the rivalry and animosity within the nation, is deepened by the contradictory nature of the personages, created by P. Zakharov.

One of the prevalent ideas developed in the play “Esh-Terek” by Ye. Zagrebin is connected with the interpretation of tragic events as a result of historic and ideological aspects of reality: the people are not ready for the Udmurt statehood and consolidation of the neighboring people (Udmurts and Bulgars) due to the fact that the idea of unity is rejected by mean and narrow-minded representatives of both Udmurts and Bulgars as well as some rules imposed by their religious beliefs.

The analysis of the play “Ebga” by P. Zakharov and the play “Esh-Terek” by Ye. Zagrebin demonstrates that the genre of a tragedy-legend in the Udmurt literature of the last decades of the 20th century is oriented at the artistic perception of an individual and history, historic routes of a nation. It is crucial that the Udmurt tragedy is based on folklore narratives (legends) and follows the principles of folklore genres.

The following features representative of the poetics of the characters are revealed and thoroughly described in the article: philosophical interpretation of the formal and content-based components of tragedy, e.g. death of personages; interpreting the historic events and problems (tribalism, lack of unity within the ethnos) from the perspective of the present-day situation; complementing the traditional concept of a personage’s mistakes with the idea of his tragic guilt; complexity of the conflict in which the characters are involved; contradictory nature of the characters, which requires the use of the range of techniques for their individualization; rethinking the tragedy of an individual personage in terms of the tragedy of an ethnos; the increasing role of mass scenes in revealing the personages, etc.

Keywords: Udmurt literature of the end of the 20th century, dramaturgy, genre, tragedy-legend, personage, personage poetics, P. Zakharov, Ye. Zagrebin.