Article

Name: Fact and fiction in I. E. Babel’s autobiographical stories about childhood in the 1930s

Authors: Elena I. Pogorelskaia

A. M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation

Abstract:

The article examines the relationship between fact and fiction in I. E. Babel’s autobiographical stories about childhood, which were published in the 1930s. Like most of Babel’s stories based on real historical or autobiographical events, the stories about childhood are told in the first person, and while they provide a reliable and accurate portrayal, there is also a distortion of reality, a “misalignment” of facts, dates, or topography. The story “In the basement” is the only instance where the author reveals the technique of blending real and fictional elements within the story itself. In the autobiographical stories of 1925, a ten-year-old boy who witnessed and suffered from a Jewish pogrom is at the center of the story, while the stories “In the basement” and “Awakening” of the early 1930s focus on a teenager who developed an early passion for literature. In these stories, the character of the narrator’s grandfather plays a significant role. Babel’s virtuosic ability to combine real facts and fictional stories is also evident in his later story “Di Grasso” (1937), where he paradoxically captures the Italian actor’s seemingly improbable performance while also inventing the play and its tour schedule.

Keywords: I. Babel, fact and fiction, autobiographical story, “In the basement”, “The awakening”, “Di Grasso”

Bibliography:

Babel’ I. E. Sochineniya: v 2 t. [Collected works: in 2 vols.] / vstup. st. G. A. Beloj, sost. i podgot. teksta A. N. Pirozhkovoj, komment. S. N. Povarczova. Moscow, Chudozh. lit., 1990. Vol. 1. 478 p. Vol. 2. 574 p. (in Russ.)

Bebutov V. M. Neutomimy’j novator [A tireless innovator]. In: Vstrechi s Mejerhol’dom: Sb. vospominanij [Meetings with Meyerhold: A collection of memoirs]. Moscow, Vserossijskoe teatral’noe obshhestvo, 1967. Pp. 67–83. (in Russ.)

Vajskopf M. Ya. Mezhdu ognennyh sten: Kniga ob Isaake Babele [Between walls of fire: a book about Isaac Babel]. Moscow, Knizhniki, 2017. 494 p. (in Russ.)

Gol’dshtejn M. E’. Petr Stolyarskij [Peter Stolyarsky]. Jerusalem, 1988. 98 p. (in Russ.)

Mezhdu molotom i nakoval’nej. Soyuz sovetskix pisatelej SSSR: dokumenty’ i kommentarii. T. 1. 1925 — iyun’ 1941 g. [Between the hammer and the anvil: the Union of Soviet Writers of the USSR. Documents and comments. Vol. 1: 1925 — June 1941] Moscow, ROSSPEN, 2011. 1023 p. (in Russ.)

Pirozhkova A. N. Ya pytayus’ vosstanovit’ cherty: o Babele — i ne tol’ko o nem [I’m trying to restore the features: about Babel — and not only about him]. Moscow, AST, 2013. 605 p. (in Russ.)

Povarczov S. N. By’t’ Babelem [Being Babel]. Krasnodar, Kuban’pechat’, 2012. 126 pp. (in Russ.)

Pogorelskaia E. I. Kommentarij k rasskazu I. Babelya «Istoriya moej golubyatni»: novye materialy k biografii pisatelya [Commentary on I. Babel’s story “The story of my dovecote”: new materials for the writer’s biography]. Voprosy literatury, 2013, no. 5, pp. 149–165. (in Russ.)

Pogorelskaia E. I. Rasskaz Isaaka Babelya «Di Grasso»: istochniki syuzheta i problemy’ kommentirovaniya [Isaac Babel’s short story “Di Grasso”: sources of the plot and problems of commenting]. Syuzhetologiya i syuzhetografiya, 2022, no. 1, pp. 43–59. (in Russ.) DOI 10.25205/2410-7883-2022-1-43-59.

Pogorelskaia E. I., Levin S. H. Isaak Babel’. Zhizneopisanie [Isaac Babel. Biography]. Saint Petersburg, Vita Nova, 2020. 624 p. (in Russ.)

Polonskij V. P. Kriticheskie zametki o Babele [Critical notes about Babel’]. Novy’j mir, 1927, no. 1, pp. 197–216. (in Russ.)

Stanton R. J. Yulij Cezar’ v podvale: Babel’ i Shekspir [Julius Caesar in the basement: Babel and Shakespeare]. In: Isaak Babel’ v istoricheskom i literaturnom kontekste: XXI vek. Sb. materialov Mezhdunarodnoj nauchnoj konferencii v Gosudarstvennom literaturnom muzee 23–26 iyunya 2014 g. [Isaac Babel in a historical and literary context in the 21st century. Proceedings of the International I. E. Babel Conference, State Literary Museum, June 23–26, 2014]. Moscow, Knizhniki, Lit. muzej, 2016. Pp. 311–322. (in Russ.)