著者

古宮 路子

出版者

ロシア・東欧学会

雑誌

ロシア・東欧研究 (ISSN:13486497)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.2015, no.44, pp.56-69, 2015

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<p>Yury Olesha completed <i>Envy</i>, his first novel, after repeated trial and error in terms of the form of narrative. The novel consists of two parts, with a change in the narrator from Nikolai Kavalerov, the hero, in the first part to the author in the second. However, it is not clear why Olesha changed the form of narrative and the narrator in the second part of <i>Envy</i>. Upon inspection of the book's previous drafts, it becomes apparent that Olesha tried various forms of narrative in the process of writing. This study attempts to clarify the reason of change in the form of narrative in the published version, judging from the reason of change in the form of narrative in the drafts. </p><p>From multiple types of drafts, this study picked up three groups of drafts that were written in the three different stages of writing. The fragmental chapter "Useless Things" can be regarded as the first stage, in which the hero is not Kavalerov but Ivan Babichev, one of the main characters in the final draft. In "Useless Things," Olesha introduces Zvezdarov as a narrator and gradually gives him a personality as powerful as that of Ivan Babichev. As a result, the former becomes as important as the latter. </p><p>However, it seems that Olesha still wanted to present Ivan Babichev as the hero. Therefore, in the second stage, Olesha moves from Zvezdarov to Kavalerov as a neutral narrator to recount Ivan Babichev's story. Nevertheless, Kavalerov is also gradually given a powerful personality, becoming as important as Ivan Babichev. </p><p>This may account for Olesha making Kavalerov the hero in the third stage. Instead of Kavalerov, the author begins to use Kavalerov's neighbor as the narrator. The notable feature of this stage is the relationships of pairs: Kavalerov/Ivan and Kavalerov/his neighbor. Although Olesha ultimately shifted the focus from Ivan Babichev to Kavalerov as a hero in the novel, it appears that he continued to believe the former to be more suitable for the role. Thus, in this stage, Olesha adorns Kavalerov with many features characteristic of Ivan in the previous stage. At the same time, Olesha now found Kavalerov's personality suited to that of a narrator. Therefore, the author initially made the narrator, Kavalerov's neighbor, a literary mirror of Kavalerov, as a hero. However, in the end, the author presents Kavalerov with characteristics separate from Ivan, abandons the use of the neighbor as a narrator, and makes Kavalerov both the hero and the narrator. This decision was adopted in the final version as well. </p><p>The reason for change in the form of narrative and the narrator in the second part of <i>Envy</i> is revealed in the relationship between the hero and the narrator in the earlier drafts. In the second part of the published version, Ivan Babichev's monologue is of great significance. In other words, Ivan Babichev becomes as important as the hero. As we saw above, Olesha knew that Kavalerov was not a suitable narrator for Ivan's story. Perhaps this is why Olesha abandoned the use of Kavalerov as the narrator in the second part of the novel. In <i>Envy</i>, the problem of who is the narrator of the story is as important as the problem of who is the hero of the story.</p>

著者

古宮 路子

出版者

ロシア・東欧学会

雑誌

ロシア・東欧研究 (ISSN:13486497)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.2015, no.44, pp.56-69, 2015 (Released:2017-08-18)

参考文献数

8

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Yury Olesha completed Envy, his first novel, after repeated trial and error in terms of the form of narrative. The novel consists of two parts, with a change in the narrator from Nikolai Kavalerov, the hero, in the first part to the author in the second. However, it is not clear why Olesha changed the form of narrative and the narrator in the second part of Envy. Upon inspection of the book’s previous drafts, it becomes apparent that Olesha tried various forms of narrative in the process of writing. This study attempts to clarify the reason of change in the form of narrative in the published version, judging from the reason of change in the form of narrative in the drafts. From multiple types of drafts, this study picked up three groups of drafts that were written in the three different stages of writing. The fragmental chapter “Useless Things” can be regarded as the first stage, in which the hero is not Kavalerov but Ivan Babichev, one of the main characters in the final draft. In “Useless Things,” Olesha introduces Zvezdarov as a narrator and gradually gives him a personality as powerful as that of Ivan Babichev. As a result, the former becomes as important as the latter. However, it seems that Olesha still wanted to present Ivan Babichev as the hero. Therefore, in the second stage, Olesha moves from Zvezdarov to Kavalerov as a neutral narrator to recount Ivan Babichev’s story. Nevertheless, Kavalerov is also gradually given a powerful personality, becoming as important as Ivan Babichev. This may account for Olesha making Kavalerov the hero in the third stage. Instead of Kavalerov, the author begins to use Kavalerov’s neighbor as the narrator. The notable feature of this stage is the relationships of pairs: Kavalerov/Ivan and Kavalerov/his neighbor. Although Olesha ultimately shifted the focus from Ivan Babichev to Kavalerov as a hero in the novel, it appears that he continued to believe the former to be more suitable for the role. Thus, in this stage, Olesha adorns Kavalerov with many features characteristic of Ivan in the previous stage. At the same time, Olesha now found Kavalerov’s personality suited to that of a narrator. Therefore, the author initially made the narrator, Kavalerov’s neighbor, a literary mirror of Kavalerov, as a hero. However, in the end, the author presents Kavalerov with characteristics separate from Ivan, abandons the use of the neighbor as a narrator, and makes Kavalerov both the hero and the narrator. This decision was adopted in the final version as well. The reason for change in the form of narrative and the narrator in the second part of Envy is revealed in the relationship between the hero and the narrator in the earlier drafts. In the second part of the published version, Ivan Babichev’s monologue is of great significance. In other words, Ivan Babichev becomes as important as the hero. As we saw above, Olesha knew that Kavalerov was not a suitable narrator for Ivan’s story. Perhaps this is why Olesha abandoned the use of Kavalerov as the narrator in the second part of the novel. In Envy, the problem of who is the narrator of the story is as important as the problem of who is the hero of the story.