The Structure of Space in I.A. Gončarov's Oblomov

Russian Literature XXVIII (1990) 175-210 North-Holland

T H E S T R U C T U R E O F S P A C E IN I.A. G O N C A R O V ' S OBLOMOV

KATHARINA HANSEN LOVE

1.0. Introduction The object of interest in this paper will be the structure and interpretation of literary space in I.A. Gon6arov's novel Oblomov (1857-1858). It represents an attempt to apply certain theories on literary space that have been formulated over the last two decades, predominantly by the Soviet semiotician Jurij Lotman and, following in his footsteps, by the Dutch slavist Joost van B aak. 1 Ever since his In'st article on the subject (1968), Lotman has connected the investigation into the spatial details of a text with the problem of world pictures, what he calls the kartina or model' mira. X y n o : ~ e c T a e r m o e I'IpOCTpaHCTBO npe~icTaaJLqeT c o 6 o f l MOVieJib

~mpa narmoro anTOpa, Bbipa~enny~o na a3~,~re ero npocTpanCTBermblX rrpe~IcTa~nermfl.

(Lotman 1968: 6) The concept of 'kartina mira' - i.e. picture of the world or worldview is thereby defined as the total of all the values governing a certain type of culture, "celosmaja ideologi~eskaja model' prisu~aja dannomu tipu kurtury" (Lotman 1971: 267). The specific spatial details obtain therefore an evaluative coloration. These evaluations are often conveyed by words without spatial connotation, however also by originally spatial concepts (cf. 4.0. on metaphorical use of spatial oppositions). It is generally agreed upon that Gon~arov's novel Oblomov deals with two conflicting pictures of the world. These worldviews have always been closely identified with the two heroes of the story and their opposite attitudes to life. Oblomov and ~;tol'c could be called the embodiment of the 1990 - Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (North-HoUand)

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eternal dilemma: action or reflection - "whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer, [...] or to take arms against a sea of trouble". This conflict can in the case of Gon~arov's novel be described on different levels, such as the psychological, sociological or historical level, or from the viewpoint of literary evolution. In view of the connection made by Lotman and Van Baak between the models of the world and the category of literary space (cf. their analysis of works by Gogol', Babel', Zamjatin), I will try to examine the conflicting worldviews in Oblomov in relation to the category of space. Another point of attention will be to determine the novel's place in Russian literary history. This is a challenging task because as a Realistic novel Oblomov obviously takes on a polemic attitude towards the preceding period of Romanticism, yet on other occasions it still makes use of the Romantic code. About the place of literary space in this diachronic approach only some provisional remarks will be made. It will be the aim of further research to detect possible correlations between certain invariant, recurring spatial structures and the world pictures involved in those literary texts. Or, to put it otherwise, how each cultural or literary period structures the world, and space as an integral part of that world, by making use of an in principle - finite set of modelling parameters (cf. on this issue especially Van Baak 1983a). Various characteristics of the locations in Oblomov have been noticed over the years. This paper is an attempt of a more methodical investigation through an analysis of the spatial oppositions that underlie the structure of literary space. I take over existing classifications 2 of spatial parameters based on topological opposition, such as: top - bottom, inside - outside, closed - open, near - distant, to name the most frequent ones. Opposition as a form of parallelism 3 is one of the ways of generating meaning in literature. This fact is related to one of the important structuring mechanisms in art, where relations of equivalence are established between elements from different (similar or dissimilar) semantic fields. Cf. Roman Jakobson 1960: 358, who has called the problem of parallelism one of the fundamental problems of poetry (ibid.: 368). In our case, for example, the inner sphere of Oblomov's room is contrasted to the outer sphere of Petersburg society. This fact entails a number of associations contributing to the meaning of the locations in the novel. As said in the above, the phenomenon of spatial oppositions is connected with positive or negative values like: familiar - alien, safe - hostile, known - unknown, order - chaos (Van Baak 1981: 410, 1983: 55). This connection underscores the significance of the spatial aspects for the presentation of events and personages involved in them. The category of space constitutes only one among several other blocks in a literary text. In the narrative model as it was suggested by Jan van der -

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Eng 1978, we distinguish the three categories of: action, characterization and the geographical and social setting. In other words, a literary text is constituted of three interrelated thematic blocks, the block of the story, the block of the characters and a spatio-temporal block. The category of space could be investigated in its relation to each of these. In this analysis of the novel Oblomov space will be predominantly be connected with the block of the characters. Van Baak (1983: 80) has introduced the very appropriate term of semiotic centre to designate the literary character in its function of connecting the category of space with the other textual blocks. He takes the view that the fictional world functions analogously to anthropological space, the world men act and live in. As it seems to me, the semiotic centre therefore may also designate the crucial function of the character in the process of perceiving and interpreting the literary space. On another level of the literary communication we could argue that the narrator holds a similar position in relation to literary space, especially in passages where no characters are involved, e.g. description of landscapes or settings. Therefore the term semiotic centre can in certain situations be extended to the category of the narrator as well. Closely related to this problem is the issue of the point of view, or focalisation. In Oblomov this functions basically on two levels, that of the narrator and that of the characters. These can be divided into a number of groups - the so called Oblomov-group, holding among others Zachar and Agafja Matveevna, - the ~tol'c-group that contains among others Ol'ga and Tarant'ev, and eventually a third group, namely the visitors in part I, chapter 2. Besides focalisation by these groups, there is focalisation by the narrator, who, as it were, navigates between the 'parties', identifying himself with one of them at certain moments, or taking on a 'neutral' position at others. In each new situation we will have to pay attention to the question 'who' is looking at space. It will prove to be of crucial importance that in Oblomov the same location has different significance for different heroes. The above mentioned classification of the characters into two groups, can be related to one of the important oppositions in the novel, the one between a static and a dynamic conception of space. Each group of characters will be identified with one of the members of this opposition. On another level these spatial parameters are related to the worldview in the novel. They happen to play a decisive role in "distinguishing between the two most fundamental ways of culturally perceiving space" (Van Baak 1983a: 29). We will encounter a static conception of the world, in which notions of inactivity, stability and permanence dominate, and a dynamic view on the world, focussed on change and activity..

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As far as the plot is concerned, there is an obvious dominance of static above dynamic, hardly anything happens, and in this respect it is more appropriate to speak of behaviour rather than of action in space (cf. Van Baak 1983: 12). This peculiarity of Gon~arov's novel sprouts mainly from the fact that the author was concerned with portraying a certain type of man, a character that was the result of a process (psychological, sociohistorical) rather than with depicting those processes themselves. Licha~ev connects this tendency of the novel with the esthetics of the 'naturarnaja ~kola' where 'priemy obob~enija i tipizacija' - the devices of generalization and typization - were used (cf. Licha~ev 1987: 588). 4 A final presupposition is the following: in Oblomovcertain archaic, one could call them mythological, structures are activated. These manifest themselves in certain aspects of the structure of literary space, namely the meaning that is attributed to certain topological oppositions and to certain 'archetypal' locations such as, for instance, the river and the abyss.

2.0. The structure of literary space In the first section I want to give a description of literary space, - rooms, streets, towns, landscapes - i.e. the space the characters live and act in, along with the evaluations the characters make of their situation in space. The ultimate aim of this description would be to lay bare certain invariant, recurring structures that may lead us to hidden meanings of the text and eventually may reveal the worldviews that govern it (sections 4 and 6). I will take the main character, Oblomov, as a starting point and follow him from one location to the next. We encounter him together with his servant Zachar on a spring day in one of the rooms of his Petersburg apartment, which he will not leave for well into the second part of the novel. During this exceptionally long exposition the reader is introduced to the hero's peculiarities and oddities - lying in bed and grumbling at his servant. His problems with accommodation, with his health and with his financial affairs are extensively described. Notwithstanding his proverbial laziness, Oblomov seems to be extremely busy during this one day, receiving visitors and making a 'spiritual journey' to the land of his childhood, Oblomovka, during the dream-chapter (ch. 9 of part 1). The end of part one is marked by the appearance, at last, of his longawaited friend Andrej ~tol'c. He is the one who finally sets Oblomov in motion and introduces him to Orga Irinskaja. This acquaintance soon develops into a love affair, which is the subject of the second and third part of the novel. Their mutual love grows and blossoms during one summer season at a Petersburg da~a and culminates in a secret engagement. The end of part 2 and beginning of part 3 mark the turning point, Orga and her

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aunt move back to their apartment on Morskaja street in the centre of the town, whereas Oblomov now finds himself 'banned' to the Northern outskirts of the capital. As autumn progresses, Ol'ga's and Oblomov's relationship becomes more and more problematic and eventually ends in a failure, a definitive breach at the end of part 3. Clouds gather over Oblomov's head; as a result of his own incapability to restore order in his affairs he becomes the victim of a vile conspiracy. The lust chapters of part 4 describe his deplorable situation in the house of the widow. Due to a lack of money, his meals are no longer abundant like before, but more and more sober. His clothes, his famous chala~ all of the things in his room make a worn-out impression. Juxtaposed with the main hero's decline we see ~tol'c rise to happiness (ch. 4, part 4). By chance he meets Ol'ga on the streets of Pads, accompanies her to Switzerland, they fall in love and eventually get married. On his return to Petersburg, ]tol'c finds Oblomov down and out in the Vyborg district. Energetically, he arranges Oblomov's affairs and henceforth guarantees for him a life without material troubles. Some years go by, Andrej and Ol'ga start a family in their home on the Crimea, Oblomov finds peace, a wife and family in the house on the Vyborg side where he enjoys some years of harmony and happiness before he dies of a stroke in his sleep. The last two chapters, as a kind of epilogue, tell us of Oblomov's son Andrej and the changes at Oblomovka.

2.1.

Oblomov's room

The story of Oblomov starts with a description of the setting. 5 One first sentence suffices to outline the situation of the hero in space: B FopoxoBofl yJI~ue, n OaHOM rm 6om,umx nOMOS, [...] J~e~a.rt yTpOM B rtocTega, Ha cBoe~ KBapTnpe, Hm,~ H.rmnq 06JIOMOB. (Gon~amv, Sobr. sod. v 8-mi toraach, 1953: T. 4: 7) 6 The narrator draws gradually closer to the principal object of attention. He moves from large space to a more and more small one, and he moves from open towards enclosed space. We gradually enter the slumbering world of Oblomov's room in his Petersburg fiat. From the very start we find our hero at the centre of several concentrically wrapped protecting layers. He is encircled first by his bed, then by the walls of his room, next by his flat, subsequently by the big house and finally by the street, which immediately, although implicitly, makes clear

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that we find ourselves in St. Petersburg, around the middle of the 19th century. 7 From this description we derive the hem's position in space. First a neutral description of the circumstances is presented. Focalisation will take place only in the following, when the characters with their meanings and evaluations are introduced. Depending on the point of view, the situation of inclusion can have either a favourable meaning, like protection from a hostile, outside world, or unfavourable meaning, such as confinement, imprisonment. The reader, therefore, is confronted with two views on space, a fact that influences his own interpretation of the text. In the following chapters different interpretations of the opposition 'inside vs. outside' will be given by the different characters. We will see Oblomov and his servant Zachar - belonging to the inside 'world' - on one side, and the visitors of his room, Tarant'ev and ~tol'c - all belonging to the exterior - on the other side. Depending on the point of view, and, ultimately, depending on the worldviews that govern those points of view, the room and the world beyond the walls of that room have opposite significance. On the first three pages we acquire, along with an extensive description of the looks and features of Oblomov, a detailed account of the room he inhabits. Descriptions of both the person and the space that surrounds him are intermingled. The room and its furniture are not only described for the sake of atmosphere, they also carry additional information on the man who lives in that room. There is a semiotic relation between the character and his surroundings, the state of the objects being symbolic for the state of their owner. 8 About Oblomov we are told that he was fat and that he lay in bed for most of the time: "Le~an'e [...] bylo ego normal'nym sostojaniem" (8). About the things in his room we learn that they are heavy and dusty, and have not been moved for a long time so that you "could get the impression that no one is living here" (cf. 9). So immobility is introduced from the very start as an important characteristic both of Oblomov and of the things in his room. Inclusion and immobility are in the following going to be set against the exterior world and its dynamism: the initial harmony that reigns in Oblomov's room (focalisation by Oblomov) threatens to be disturbed by intrusions from the outside. First we are told about the letter from Oblomov's bookkeeper "pis'mo iz derevni" (10), bringing bad news, urging him to come to his estate to put things in order. Secondly, his landlord forces him to move out of the flat on Gorochovaja street (cf. 17). I propose to call these spatialintrusions, elements of the exterior space penetrate into the interior world. 9

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As a result, in the eyes of Oblomov, the outside world turns into a trouble-making, hostile entity, that comes to him (without being asked for). "On terjalsja v prilive ~itejskich zabot" (18). Danger presents itself to Oblomov in the form of almighty forces of nature ('priliv' - the tide coming in) against which man is impotent. In the second chapter the exterior world is impersonated by several visitors, literary masks that stand for different aspects of life in Petersburg society. On this occasion a clear-cut boundary 1° between interior and exterior space is mentioned for the first time. It is the door to his room that marks the line between 'his', Oblomov's world and the world of 'the o t h e r s ' . 11

The evaluation of the outside world, which penetrates into his territory, is divisible into a number of subcategories. Volkov, the first visitor, stands for life in high society, with its parties, shortlasting love-affairs, boring evenings at the theatre (19-23). The second, Sud'binskij, embodies working life in a bureaucratic society with its idle careerism (23-27). Thirdly comes Penkin the journalist who represents cultural life and bad taste (2732). The fourth visitor is the faceless and nameless (32) Alekseev, a parasite. 12 Again I must stress that the negative rating comes from Oblomov's perception. Each visitor stands for a certain part of the outside world, together they make up the whole of the exterior world that is being qualified so negatively by Oblomov, he himself the embodiment of interior space. Public life is contrasted to private life. "Ne podchodite, ne podchodite, vy s choloda" - he repeats thrice (19, 23, 27). The climatological attribute (attribution made by Oblomov - direct speech) of the world beyond the walls of his fiat, the cold - we should note that it is the first of May, that cannot be a particular cold day in St. Petersburg -, can be seen as a symbol for the chilliness of the life and human relations in that world. Oblomov pities the people living in that world, "nes~astnyj!" he exclaims and he labels that world as being in the first place inhuman, "Gde ~e tut ~elovek!". Whereas, on the other side, the representatives of the exterior space look at their world as exciting and want him, Oblomov, to partake of it. One of the functions of these visiting scenes is, as it seems to me, a more precise definition of Oblomov's relation to the outside world from which he himself has retreated, as we will learn from the following chapters. 13 In Oblomov's concept of the world reign values like generosity, benevolence and kindness, whereas Petersburg society, the world of the gentry and bureaucracy, is governed by egoist emotions, jealousy, malice and slander.

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At this point we may come to the conclusion that up till now the opposition of the inside to the outside world was focalised only by Oblomov. A different, new qualification of the interior on the one hand and the exterior on the other, is introduced with the arrival of the fifth visitor Tarant'ev. He is one of the incorporations of yet another worldview, whose primary representative is Andrej Storc. For the first time an explicit statement is made about the opposition: Oblomov's room vs. Petersburg society. B KOMHaTy, r n e HapcTBOBaa'I COH H rIOKOl~, TapaHTbeB rtpHHOCHJI )KH3Itb, 2IBHXeHHe, a rIrIOrna H u e c ~ l,r3BHe. (59)

This observation of the narrator announces a shift in the values connected with the oppositional pair 'inside - outside'. The sentence introduces a new view on the location of Oblomov's room. Seen through the main hero's eyes the world of his room, his domain or territory, is a place of rest, an island of peace and safety amidst a sea of trouble and danger. He calls himself a lucky man, one who can stay at home and lie on his couch all day, keeping his "eeloveeeskoe dostoinstvo" (41). In the eyes of visitors like Tarant'ev and later on ~tol'c and Orga, the qualification of space is exactly the opposite: exterior space to them means motion, advancement and growth. Interior space to them is, on the contrary, motionless, filled with boredom and sleep, which to them signify degeneration, failure and loss. What we see then in this fin'st part of the novel, and what is symptomatic for the whole book, as I will try to make clear, are two different axiological qualifications of the same space. As a consequence, what we have is a kind of dialectics or polyphony of spaces - a looking at space from antipodal views. In his stimulating article on space in Gogors prose, Lotman 1968: 18, 24-26) has introduced the term bytovoe prostranstvo. Characteristics of that type of space are eventlessness, timelessness, immobility, fullness (objects), but also a sense of security, cosiness. These characteristics of space of the by~ diagnosed by Lotman in Ve~era na chutore bliz Dikan'M and 'Starosvetskie pome~eiki', can all be attributed to Oblomov's room as well. In another article Lotman (1979) discusses the origin of plot. He distinguishes plot texts from mythological texts. The former deal with phenomena that happened once, they have marked categories of beginning and end, whereas mythological texts or myth is thought of as a mechanism which constantly repeats itself, they deal with events "which were timeless, endlessly reproduced and, in that sense, motionless" (163).

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In the light of this last remark the spatial characteristics typical for the

byt could be traced back to their roots in mythological times. There may exist a kinship between byt and myth - a question that would need separate investigation. In the Oblomovka locus mythological wofldviews prevail, as will be shown hereafter.

2.2.

Oblomov at Oblomovka

Oblomovka is not only a dream and not only an actual location "somewhere on the borders of Asia". Its relation to the rest of the novel makes it acquire features of mythological dimensions. It is very well possible to speak of the Oblomovka myth that governs one of the worldviews in this book. This can be derived from the fact that structures characteristic of the space in Oblomovka recur in other settings involving Oblomov, for example in the room of the big house on Gorochovaja street (2.1), or at the widow's house (2.4). Before the chapter 'Oblomov's dream' actually starts, some preliminary allusions are made to this piece of heaven on earth: "Vospitannyj v nedrach provincii..." - 'v nedrach' - the innermost - a similar form of enveloping as in 2.1, this time by ancestral earth, parents and friends. [...] c p e ~ KpOTga~XI~ TerLrmtx HpaBoa H o61,IqaeB po~ii,na~,i, n e p c x o ~ B TeqeHHe nBanuaTH ~eT H3 061~rI~h B 061,~rr~ poJlHbIX, npy3ea, n 3HaKOMbIX, OH ~II0 TOt0 6bLII IIpOHHKHyT ceMeam,iM naqazou... (58) The child at the centre of the family, which is the centre of the estate, which is the centre of the province, etc. Again we see a concentrical structure of space, enveloping our hero, a structure parallel to the previous enveloped position in the Gorochovaja apartment. Another similarity, sprouting from this enclosed position, between Oblomovka and Oblomov's room is the opposition Inside - Outside. Like in 2.1 this spatial opposition is connected with notions like 'safe/hostile' and 'known/familiar- unknown/foreign'. Space is structured concentrically around little II'ja II'ie, and this closed territory is surrounded by an unknown, maybe even hostile world (cf. the utter darkness mentioned on p. 108). "Ves' ugolok verst na pjatnadcat' ili dvadcat' vokrug..." (115) 'vokrug' - again a notion of surrounding, a ring drawn around a specific territory. The interior world of Oblomov's childhood acquires positive values - a feeling of intense security is the strongest association in this case - a

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positive qualification o f an idyllic world that is transmitted to the opposition Town vs. Countryside. Oblomovka resembles the 'middle landscape' of a long tradition of pastoral Arcadias - those ideal terrains lying halfway between the forbidding and impersonal realm of raw nature (the sea and mountains) and the overcivilized city, idyllic places that in Russian novels (Sergey Aksakov, Turgenev, Tolstoy) are so often identified with the estates of the gentry. (M. Ehre 1973: 176) In other words, Oblomovka is also feudal space, a type of space that is marked by a strong relation between man and the land; the fact that the land carries the name of its owners is typical of this sort o f space. Zachar represents the other aspect of the feudal system, the subordination of man to the land. His clumsiness is explained by his originating from the countryside: Bce ~T0 IIpOHcxoHHJIO, KOHCqHO, 0TTOF0, wrO OH rIoJtyqn.rt aocnrrraHI~e rx npHofpeTaxt MaHepbI He B TeCHOTeH noJtyMpaKe pOCKOInHbIX, npI,IXOrmmo y6paHm,ix Ka6nHeTOn )t 6y~yapoB, rze qepT anaex qero nn HacxaBaeno, a 8 nepeBne, Ha no~oe, npocTope n aoJmnoM aoaayxe. (73) In spite of the narrator's obvious irony, this statement contributes, however, also to the definition of the opposition town - countryside. According to the vision formulated here, rural space is preferable to urban space. Life in the city is not real life, whereas life at Oblomovka - the real home - resembles heaven. Ax! - ropecxno BCrryx BanoxnyJI I/IJIb~ I4_rml~q. - qT0 aa x~narm! KaKoe 6eao6paane •TOT CTOJIkItIHbIfflmyM!Korna x e HaCTaHeT pat~cKoe, :~eJtaHHoe ~ra'n,e? Koraa B nO~Lq, a poanue pomn? - zyMa~ On. (80) The major problem in our approach of the 'dream-chapter' is the question of who is seeing the dream? This is of importance for a right understanding of the, as it seems to me, ambivalent attitude - of the narrator in general but also of the adult Oblomov - towards the Oblom o v k a location. It appears that next to the dreaming hero who sees himself as a child back at the Oblomovka of his youth, there is the narrator commenting on the world o f the dream. This narrator furnishes information the child would not be able to give.

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Con [...] nepeHec ero a apyrylo armxy, K npyrrrM mOaZM, B apyroe MeCTO,ryaa rtepeHeceMc~t3a HI,tM I~ MbI C qnTaTezeM B cxtezyt)me~ r~taae. (102) What does this ethereal world look like? Oblomovka, at first sight, carries many features of the idyllic landscape as it was very well described by Michail Bachtin in his study on the chronotope.14 However, when we bother to take a closer look at the description of Oblomovka, it becomes clear that in the eyes of the narrator and Oblomov this location is far from being perfect. It is true, the chapter starts with a lyrical description of the landscape, but as soon as the inhabitants of Oblomovka are drawn into the picture, other, more critical sounds can be heard. The laziness, simplicity and backwardness of this archaic world are depicted, together with its paralysing influence on the people who live in it. So the dream is not only pleasant recollection - what is seen in the dream are repeated occasions of his clashes (as a child) with the system of Oblomovka. What is more, the child plays the part of an outsider. He looks at the world with the amazement of a newcomer and behaves differently from all the other inhabitants (adults), who want to subdue him to the laws and regulations of Oblomovka. Time and again the child tries to break out of this suffocating atmosphere but eventually loses the battle. Toward the end of the dream chapter, the tone becomes more and more negative about this apparent paradise, that has turned out to be a mere mock-idyll very close to an anti-paradise. Let us return to the spatial structure of the Oblomovka locus. What is especially striking about the place are the following details: nature always meets the expectations of the inhabitants, never surprises them by excessive heat or cold (104-105), people seldom die (108), and when somebody passes from life to death, it is experienced as an extremely amazing occurrence. As a matter of fact nothing happens there (107-109), no robbery, murder or other dreadful accidents. This dream-land resembles a fairy-tale country, it carries features of a world where mythological thinking is still very strong (time, for instance, is experienced as cyclical instead of linear, one of the primary differences between myth and nonmyth). As far as the structure of space in mythology is concerned, lines and boundaries - cf. the encircling rings already mentioned - are of special importance. The world of Oblomovka is literally filled with them. For the child boundaries are obstacles and they occur in the form of a window (111) - marking the line between the closed, inside space of the house and the open, outside world or in the form of the gates (113, 118), which separate the enclosed yard around the house from the rest of the property, or again in the form of the threshold (122). The child longs to

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cross these forbidden lines and to go out of bounds, yet this is prevented by the adults. Of equal importance are certain locations in Oblomovka that are prohibited and dangerous to enter, such as the ravine and the forest. M. Ehre is very much to the point when he compares these locations to taboos (1973: 177). The forest localizes danger, the ravine is identified with death. Danger and fear are very important factors in the main hero's definition of his position in the world. They explain his behaviour, the retreating into the safety of his room - remember his fear for cold - and will recur in following chapters as one of the driving forces. We could therefore argue that attributes of the mythological Oblomovka world picture have power over the hero even outside Oblomovka. The taboos, the identification of danger and death with a certain location, govern his behaviour wherever he goes. This leads to 'wrong' behaviour in the 'wrong' place (cf. section 6.2.). Other allusions to fairytales (107, 121,123) and mythological thinking are made in the ninth chapter. The worldview of the inhabitants of Oblomovka is described not without irony. They think of themselves as the centre of the world, the Volga river being the frontier between them and 'the others'. It is the first instance where the fiver fulfils its border function, 'our' land and the land on the 'other side', that is very often identified with the world of the dead (Nekljudov 1972: 36), - "K Volge, kotoraja byla ich Kolchidoj i Gerkulesovymi stolpami" (108). This mythological border function of rivers will reappear in paragraph 2.4. As far as the role of space in this curious picture of the world is concerned, the following quotation is particularly expressive: OHH aHam~, wro B aOCbMn~ec~rrn aepcTax OT HHX 6~,~na 'ry6epnnz", TO eCTb ry6epHcr,n~ ropon, HO pemoae ea~aza Tyna: nOTOM 3Ham~, qTO rtoHam,me TaM, CapaTOB HYtH HH>KHVat; cm,ixa.r~, wro e c ~ MocKaa H IInvep, wro aa IInTepOM ~:Hayr qbpanuy3bx rtJ~ neMm,I, a nazee y~e Haqnnazca nz.q HHX, KaK ~JI.fl JlpeBHHX, TelVlHblffl MVIp,HeH3BeCTHbIe cTpaHbl, HaceJ~enHb~e qynoBnmaMri, JnO~Mn 0 ;aByX r0JIOBaX, BeavlxaHaMH; TaM cJIeHoBari MpaK - I,I, naKOHelt, ace OKaHqHBaJIOCh TO~ pbI6Oa, KOTOpa.qnepxnT ria ce6e aeMnlO. (108) This picture is primarily ruled by the spatial opposition 'near vs. distant', which is associated with notions of familiarity and safety on one side and a feeling of growing threat and danger as the distance from home increases. The dream chapter opens with an unusual description of the landscape (102-104). The narrator - who is obviously focalizing from an all-seeing, elevated position (cf. Uspenskij's "to~ka zrenij a ptie'ego poleta",

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Uspenskij 1970: 86) - in an ostentatious way puts behind him the dynamic Romantic landscape, traditionally full of threat and danger, obstacles that have to be overcome and at the same time infinite and boundless. He replaces it by a static one. In Oblomovka, nothing happens at all, even nature is permeated by a kind of motionless apathy. An important function of the whole Oblomovka episode is an attempt to explain the grown-up Oblomov through his childhood and therefore through the character of his homeland. The land is quiet and peaceful: Kax ~ce TrlXO, ace cormo. (107) Tnxo n conno ace a nepearie [... ] Ta x~e r~j6o~a~ ~ t u n ~ a ~ p he,raT a Ha nO~mX.(107) Then the narrator jumps from nature to man: Tmum~a i~ HeBo3MyTHM0e CHOKOfiCTBHe r.IapCTByIOT H B I-ipaaax Jnone~. (107) A link between type of space and psychological type is hereby explicitly made. More connections of the same kind are made, for instance, the one between life at Oblomovka and the psychology of the grown-up Oblomov: [...] y riero riam~erna OcTaeTcH pacnono~enne n o n e x a ~ na n e w , noxonm-b a FOTOBOM, Heaapa6oTarmoM rtnaTbe noeca-b ria c q e x aO6pOgl noame6HmtbI. (121) Resuming what has been said so far, it must be stressed once more that the dream picture of Oblomovka - as this place is seen by the narrator and the main hero himself - is open to various, controversial interpretation. Oblomovka carries features of an archaic world picture, its inhabitants have kept aspects of magic or mythological thinking that affects their attitude towards the surrounding space. Life at Oblomovka is idealized country life being preferable to city life. Yet, life at Oblomovka is criticized at the same time - the notion of captivity that strangles the child: H I 4 m o m a c neqa.rmIo ocTaBanca/IOMa, JieJ~eeMhrfl KaK ~K3OTHqeCKHffl IIBeTOK B Terurm~e, n TaK 2ice, KaK nocneaHHt~ n o n CTeKJIOM, OH pOC Mennermo • Bm'~O. Hmymne npO~IBJIeHH~l

caJn,l o6pamarmcl, BI~yTpb~ rII,mJm, yBaaa-q. (146) Though the following observations are not related to the dream chapter, the issue is related to the Oblomovka location as such. It is of interest that a very different view on this type of space is demonstrated by the other

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hero of the novel, ~tol'c. As I already tried to demonstrate in the previous paragraph, Andrej ~tol'c is the representative of a different worldview, conflicting with Oblomov's. His behaviour in space, for instance, is diametrically opposite to Oblomov's: "On [Andrej] besprestanno v dvi~enii" (167). Here we can recollect the introduction of Oblomov on p. 8: "Le~an'e [...] bylo ego normal'nym sostojaniem". Oblomov can be identified with the East, with Asia: "[...] nasledstvo [...] ~ut' ne v Azii" (57). Whereas the spatial identification of ~tol'c is made with the West, with German Saxony. In connection with this point, the episode abroad (409-436), where ~tol'c and Ol'ga fall in love, is of special significance. But Oblomov's friend and opponent (I cannot call him a real antagonist, for as far as the development of the plot is concerned, the only real antagonists are Tarant'ev and Ivan Matveevi~, whereas in this respect ~tol'c carries the function of helper) was in fact born in the same world, $tol'c and Oblomov have certain roots in common (cf. M. Ehre's approach of the Stol'c character [1973: 195-219]). As far as the same parameters inside - outside do count for ~tol'c as well, they are connected with very different values: the closed, inside world is equated to stagnation and death, openness therefore means life and progress. Where his attitude to Oblomovka is concerned, the fact that ~tol'c wants to build roads and railways - to pull this world out of its apathy and isolation - is very significant. [II.ITo.rlbI~'] [...] TBO~06JIOMOBKaHe B rzrymra 6oJmme, YTOaO Hee aottma oqepe~ [...] OHa 6y/leT CTaHIBIefl /lopoI'I4 [...]. Ilpoiiial~, cTapa.q O6YIOMOBKa![...] TbI OT)KI4.,IIaCBOIY'IBeK! (498) 2.3.

Oblomov at the daea

The claOa location seems to be the only one that lacks controversial interpretation by the characters. There are no instances of opposing points of view on this part of the literary space. This could be explained by the fact that at the daOa Oblomov's behaviour is for the first (and only) time the accepted, conventional one (cf. on proper and improper behaviour section 6.2.). For once he is presented as a dynamic character, in an attempt to model his life according to his former plans, that led to his retirement, when he broke with the bureaucratic and, to him, banal Petersburg milieu. The episode is also a typical example of a change in the environment evoking a change of mood (cf. Van Baak 1983:86 and note 13 on p. 263). All of a sudden the behaviour of Oblomov changes completely, he gets up early, reads books, goes out for walks, dresses correctly; how did this happen?

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BoT OH CH~,IT y OKHa caoell ~Iaq14 (OH :hKHBeTHa naqe, a HecroJmi~x nepcTax OT ropona)... (195)

The order in which we are told about Oblomov's revival is such that we first learn about his changed behaviour and only after this we find out where he is. There is, of course, another very important explanation for his new behaviour, namely his love for Ol'ga, who pulls him out of his isolation and apathy. The daea episode is the only instance in which Oblomov is portrayed in an open space. It can be seen as an attempt to break out of his enclosed dream world, trying to start a new life. In the following I will come to talk about the identification of closed space with a dead w o r d , with this in mind the holiday at the dada is Oblomov's temporary resurrection. The structure of the dada location differs from the previous one by a seeming absence of boundaries. The notions of inclusion and immobility have disappeared. Most scenes during the dada episode take place in the open. In this respect the park has an important locus function. Three important confrontations between Oblomov and Ol'ga take place there. After Bachtin we could call this park a chronotope of meeting - especially if we bear in mind the fact that "a chronotope always entails a moment of intensified emotional value due to the motifs involved" (Van Baak 1981: 394). We learn very little about this park, it is hardly described, only a bench and a grove are mentioned. Apparently, the only element of importance is the fact that the love scenes take place here. More important, however, is the spatial structure of parks in general. They are cultivated pieces of land, that as a rule are fenced in, have gates, in other words are bounded space. This is why I prefer to talk of a 'seeming' boundlessness, and therefore of 'seeming' dynamism, activity. Oblomov is strolling through free nature and over hills: [...] OH qHTaeT C Hell, nocbiJiaeT IIBeTbI, ryJLqeT nO

ropaM [...] OH, O6aoMOa. (200) Ha rmT~ BepcT K p y r 0 M ~Iaq14 He 6i, I2iO np14ropKa, Ha on He mIeaan no necxoJmKo paa. (246)

oaepy,

no

KOTOpbn~

This suggests a regaining of the natural vitality: Oblomov walks, acts, starts living again. This dynamism, this activity is reflected by nature: Up14pona ~:14na ~Iea'reYmHOll )l[(l,I3HblO, BoKpyr raxneJta nea14~Maa, MeJmaa pa60Ta, [...] a TpaBe ace nBm-anocb, rtoJraa.no, CyeTm~OCh.Boa Mypaab14 6eryr a paanb~e CTOpOHbI TaK XYlorloTYt14BO I4 cyeT21HBO, CTa.rl/O,IBal0TC~I, paa6erat)TCa, ToporLaTCa... (263)

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So like the furniture in Oblomov's room, like the landscape in Oblomov's dream, the insect world is a sign of the hero's inner state. At the end of the summer however, the changes in Oblomov's behaviour turn out to have been merely apparent changes. The trip to the dada was only an attempt to run away from real responsibilities that demand a real shift in space, such as a trip abroad (to improve his health), or, even more important, a trip to Oblomovka (to improve his financial position).

2.4.

The house in the Vyborg district

Before our hero actually moves to the house of the widow P~enicyna, the place has already been mentioned several times. Oblomov at first categorically rejects the whole idea of moving at all, and of moving to the outside skirts in particular. In the Vyborg episode literary space is structured according to the topological opposition central - peripheral. This is an opposition, typical for literature that is situated in St. Petersburg. 15 9TO qxo aa noaoca~a? Ha BbI6oprcKy~ cx0poHy! ~lIa xyaa, rOBOp~rr, anMO~t BOmO~ aa6era~oT. TaM CKy~a, nyCTOTa, HHKOFOHeT.

Tyna ne nepeeny. [aneo,] OT Bcero 6JmaKO, TyT H Mara3nHbI, H TeaTp, n 3naKOMbIe [...] UenTp ropoaa, Bce [...]. (48) It must be noted immediately that these are explicit statements - direct speech - therefore Oblomov's point of view on both types of space. He arranges the world according to the notions tam - there - and zdes'- here, that can semiotically be read as Cu~ojvs. svoj. The periphery or actually what is beyond it - for the Vyborg district is located on the other side of the dyer- is rejected. If we bear in mind mythological thinking, we could even say that the land on the other side is equated to the land of the dead. In the Oblomovka section I demonstrated that myth plays a part in Oblomov's worldview, that the inhabitants of Oblomovka experience the Volga river as the border between their world and the world of the others that is thought o f as foreign and therefore dangerous. This same mechanism recurs in Oblomov's - initial - attitude towards the Vyborg district. I deliberately say 'initial' for we will see that the hero's attitude to/interpretation of the opposition 'central vs. peripheral' is going to make a considerable shift.

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The sly Tarant'ev, exactly knowing what Oblomov wants and needs, puts forth all the advantages of the remote district on the other side of the Neva. A TaM, rtolIyMal~: TbI 6ynenm g r r r b y KyMbI MOe~, 6~taropO;IIHO~ XeHRIHHbI, B noKoe, r n x o ; Hvrtcro Te6fl He TpOHeT; HH

myMy, Ha raMy, qWCTO,ortp~rno. (49) Oblomov refuses to leave the safety of the centre of town for an unsafe place. He is afraid of wolves and again anxiety is one of the main psychological motivations for Oblomov's withdrawal from the outside world. But before long, this location, qualified so negatively in the beginning, subtly changes into its opposite. The shift takes place slowly, initially on the level of the subconscious, when Oblomov sees himself confronted with the unavoidable questions and decisions of life, the Vyborg side turns into a refuge. Her axo x ~ e n o , CKyqno! [...] IIepeeny Ha BbI6oprcKy~ CTOpOny, 6yny 3aH~a'rbc~, ~ivrra~, yeny B O6JtOMOBKy [...] onmfl (235) Oblomov intuitively ranks the Vyborg locus next to the Oblomovka locus. Understandably, Ol'ga interprets the Vyborg side from her own point-ofview (again two contrastive qualifications of the same space) as a threat to her relation with Oblomov. After one of their reconciliation scenes she asks him not to move to the Vyborg district: "Vy ne pereedete na Vyborgskuju storonu?" (243). One summer day Oblomov undertakes his first trip to the Vyborg district, to take a look at the place. The description of that journey - one of the few journeys Oblomov ever undertakes, and one of the very few that are reported at all to the reader (for instance, we learn nothing of his trip to the dada, all of a sudden he just happens to be there) - augurs ill for the future. The description of the journey can be linked to a shifting attitude of the hero (cf. Van Baak 1983: 72). Some of the details the traveller registers along the way are signs of his inner state. Through frequent mentioning of fences the notion of inclusion arises. As we must be well aware of by now, this is one of the dominant features of Oblomovian space in general. The cages of canaries and siskins in Oblomov's new apamnent as well as the many fences in the Vyborg district and around the Pshenitsyn house, reinforce the sense of confinement. Oblomov becomes a captive of his atavistic yearning for Oblomovka. (Lyngstad 1971: 89)

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Katharina Hansen LOve O6noMOa OTnpaB~CH Ha B~I6oprc~yx~ CTOpOHy, Ha HOByX3 CBOX) i(Bapn74py. ~ozn'o OH ea~rtn Mex~Iy ~Im4HHbIM~aa6ol> aMn no nepcym
More and more the Vyborg side turns into a 'substitute Oblomovka'. Oblomov gradually abandons the idea of moving back to the centre, and as gradually as this he regains his 'normal' way o f life: he sinks back into apathy. Oanaxnb~ ~mrnna B npnpone n B 2IOMe6b~na Hnea~HaH [...] I 4 ~ s I 4 ~ n ~ z e x a z He6pe~no Ha ~nBane... (328) Again and again resemblances between life at the widow's house and life in Oblomovka are noticed by Oblomov and his servant. Through these an identification of the two locations takes place. lInpor He x y x e HamHX O6HOMOBCr~IX, - aaMeTrut 3axap. (314) ~epeBmo HanOMnHa~OT, O6HOMOBKy, cKaaaa OH [O6JIOMOB]. (323) THmnHa rineaJn,HaH. (323) [narrator] THxo, xopomo B STOI~I CTOpOHe, TOHbKO cKyqH0! - roBoprta O6JIOMOB. (326) The more he and Ol'ga drift apart, the more the Vyborg house acquires the features o f the bytovoe prostranstvo, so typical of Oblomov's world: special attention for food, eventlessness, absence of movement, and what is new, but very typical o f this kind of space, sexual drive. Bachtin, commenting on Oblomov, calls these features idyllic: B CaMO~t n~n~mmH (OCO6eHH0 Ha BbI60prCKOR CTOpOHe) pacKpbIBaX)TCH BCCOCHOBHbIecoceJICTBa - KyJlbTe;ntbIn nrri~H, nCTH, nOaOBOllaKT,cMevrb... (Bachtin 1986: 267) The growing distance between Orga and Oblomov is symbolically reflected by the geographical distance between the centre and the outskirts.

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The distance is more and more stressed; along with a psychological drifting apart, the physical distance grows in the perception of Oblomov: A eaanTb eMy Kagaa ~arm! E~emb, enetub c Bb~6oprcrofl CTOpOHbl~ta BeqepOMnaaaa - Tpl4qaca! (312) BeqepoM, no rpaan, ~TaKyg) na~! (321) What is more, due to climatological circumstances, crossing of the natural barrier between the two lovers becomes at a certain moment impossible: the river starts to freeze over (349-350). Again, the river functions as border between two worlds. This time a border that is insurmountable. A shift in Oblomov's way of orientating is registered by the words: "ta storona" - the other side. What he, Oblomov, once viewed as the periphery has slowly turned into the new centre of his world. Contrasting points-of-view on the Vyborg locus in particular, and on Oblomov's space in general, are being put into effect in the fourth and last part of the novel. It is precisely this contrast, or rather conflict between Oblomov's way of looking at his world, and the way ~tol'c and Orga look at it, that drives the story to its climax. The ninth chapter of the last part of the book is in several ways the culminating point of the story. The resemblance between the Vyborgskaja storona and Oblomovka reaches its highest degree of similarity. The house is filled with things, most prominently with food. The place is no longer dusty - "vezde bylo svetlo, ~isto i sve~o" (484). Oblomov's harmony is finally complete; all threats to his ideal, his dream have been overcome, cf. 485-487. And since Vyborgskaja storona has turned into Oblomovka (heaven on earth) there is no longer any need to undertake the journey to the real Oblomovka. Oblomov decides that he has reached his goal - "~.izn' ego slo~.ilas"' (487). His daydreams are filled with Oblomovka, and there is not even a clear difference between dream and reality for they have become so much alike - a kind of diffusion of spaces (493). Nevertheless, the question why Oblomov does not return to Oblomovka - (to return to one's estate after some years of civil or military service was a common phenomenon among the Russian gentry in the 19th century) - must be approached from another angle as well. In the light of what has been said about the ambivalent attitude towards Oblomovka (2.2.) a possible explanation of not returning can be found in the following: Oblomov is conscious of the fact that in reality the 'paradise on earth' is mere illusion. After all, in his dream Oblomov was actually an outsider in relation to his ancestral world and what he actually dreamt of was not entirely pleasant recollection. It could be that Oblomov realizes that the idyll he has found in Agafja Matveevna's house in the Vyborg district is

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what can be reached in reality. In this respect Oblomov demonstrates a down-to-earth attitude, the Romantic idyll - Oblomovka - is replaced by the Realistic idyll - the house of the widow (cf. section 5). Once we have seen Oblomov in his full glory, the final confrontation between the two, incompatible, worldviews can take place. The climax is reached when ~tol'c pays his last visit. Andrej does not conceal his contempt for Oblomov's world. His perception of the world is diametrically opposed to Oblomov's. This has been clear from the beginning, but only now it is understood by both of them. For the fh'st time Oblomov is decisive. It is this new Oblomov, a man who has all of a sudden understood that his world and that of Stol'c cannot go together, who speaks the crucial words: HocJryma~, An~pe~! - Bnpyr npn6aBm7 on peulI4TeYl]bHbIM, neaai~ HarlpacHbIX rtorlbrroK, He yroaapMBa~ Mena, a OCTaHycbanecb. (495) qTO TbI xoqelIn, nezaT~ co MnO~? C TeM MMpOM,xyna TbI BJ~enemh MeH~,Z pacrtanc~ naBcerna: XbIne crtaeiim, He COCTaBmUb nae pa3opaar~ble noaoa~mbL ~q npnpoc K aTO~ aMe 60m,nbL~ MeCTOM:nonpo6y~ OTOpaaTb - 6yneT cMepTb. (496) OcTaab Men~l coBOeM [... ] aa6ynb. (497) Ite6bIBaJ~IM TOHOM, - He

3.0.

Mobile and immobile heroes

While describing the structure of Oblomov's room and his relation to the surrounding space, we became convinced that immobility is a major element of his character and of the type of culture he represents. The oppositional pair 'static vs. dynamic' indeed plays an important role in Gonearov's novel, the opposition being basically a spatial one, and being related to both characters and plot. O6JIOMOB - Jlea
The main hero's immobility is stressed by juxtaposing the dynamism of his friend ~tol'c to it. The latter is connected with restless travelling inside and outside of Russia (cf. 44 and 62), whereas Oblomov stays in the same place, or almost the same place, throughout the novel. Oblomov is not able to undertake the 'necessary' journeys, like going abroad or visiting his estate, whereas ~tol'c and Orga do so easily. In their worldview, borders seem to be altogether absent. It is finally ~tol'c who undertakes the journey to Oblomovka, Oblomov visits the place only in his dreams.

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In the already-mentioned Gogol' article, Lotman has introduced his theory about mobile and immobile heroes. 16 According to this theory, a literary character belongs to one of these categories, depending on its relationship to the structure of literary space and its behaviour in this space. Basing himself in his analysis on the work of Tolstoj, Lotman distinguishes: 1. heroes who belong to a closed, immobile locus, whom he calls "geroi svoego mesta, svoego kruga, [...] kotorye, esli i peremeg~ajutsja soglasno trebovanijam sju~eta, to nesut vmeste s soboj i svojstvennyj im lokus" (Lotman 1968: 10), 2. heroes of open space, who are subdivided into 'geroi purl' and 'geroi stepi'. The linear structure of space of the 'geroi puti' is connected with a goal. His space is not unlimited, but marked by a distinct point of departure and a point of destination. The 'geroj stepi', on the other hand, moves in a kind of space that is virtually boundless. He is able to cross borders, prohibited to the other types of heroes, for these borders do not exist in his space. It is obvious that Oblomov has many correspondences with the immobile type of hero, the 'geroj svoego mesta'. There is a "mutual presupposition between personage and setting", they complement each other and may seem even "interchangeable, as elements from one semantic field or domain" (Van Baak 1983: 96). 17 In our case, this means that Oblomov, as a character, can, among other things, be understood through the space that surrounds him. "What is typical for that space, is typical for him, such as, for instance, the apathy of the landscape at Oblomovka or the negligent way things lie around in his room. The narrator himself stresses this connection when he states: CaM O()JIOMOB6bLlI rlOJlHblMI4 eCTeCTBeHHbIMOTpa~eHHeM ~4

BbIpaxeneM roro "mmmtbi. (486)

noi
Oblomov carries Oblomovka with him, wherever he goes - to the house on Gorochovaja street, to the house of the widow - only not to the dada. At the same time, however, he is not deprived of a goal in life, the realization of his dream, a return to Oblomovka and the creation of a family. This goal, at least in his own eyes, he reaches at the end of the novel, at the end of his life. )I(nam, ero caoxMnacb. (487) l"pe3wrcs eMy, qT0 OH ~IOCTnr TOil o6eToBar~ofl aeMJ~... (493)

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This circumstance classifies the 'immobile' Oblomov in the category of 'geroj purl', whose linear space points to a goal, "Dvi~ug~ijsja geroj imeet cel"', Lotman (1968: 48). Therefore the existence of yet another type of literary character must be considered, a hero who does not move physically, but who, undoubtedly, does have a goal in front of him. This goal, however, is not reached by means of movement, shifting in space, but through mental processes only. In an early stage of his life it forced him to quit his office, in order to preserve his dignity. He turned his back on bureaucratic Petersburg, on its careerism, bad taste and so on (cf. 2.1). Considering the two contradictory 'conclusions', the typology of Lotman, when applied to Oblomov, does not agree entirely. Though the classification of literary characters into mobile and immobile can be useful with respect to many literary texts - it may reveal information about the typology of the plot or the structure of the literary space and the typology of the culture modelling that space - it seems to let us down in this particular case. It is a lot easier to pin down ~tol'c according to Lotman's system. He would be the type of 'geroj stepi', whose function it is to cross borders, insurmountable for others. ~;tol'c, as a matter of fact, arrives from the 'outside', when he enters Oblomov's room he has just returned from a nip abroad. Repeatedly he steps into the closed world of his friend and then leaves it again, travels around inside and outside Russia, overcoming all the difficulties but never striving for the unattainable. He crosses all the borders Oblomov cannot and does not cross, and he is the one who takes the final hurdle: he asks Orga to become his wife. Considering the stressed apathy, lack of energy and static position in the space of Oblomov, recurrent allusions to his and ~tol'c's 'path of life', their destiny, their goal in life, are all the more striking. In fact, the majority of the conversations between the two old friends deals with these matters. In these talks the word put'and other terms with the same connotation play an important role. A limited number of synonyms is used for the 'road': doroga, tropa, put', popriJ~e. 18 lllTO$IbLI yKaobIBaaI B ~aJ~ rIyTH caoe~ n e r o )KH3HH [...] o6emanrm nnTn paay~mo~ H CBeTJIOI0noporo~. (65) If a consistent use of the terms 'mobile' and 'immobile' heroes is not so adequate, application of the spatial parameters 'static vs. dynamic' seems more satisfactory. The closed, static world of Oblomov can be related to a concentfical world picture in which the archetype of the house is the dominant one. The counterpart of this view is a world in which movement prevails and boundaries are absent, space is itinerant in this world picture, the road its key-concept. 19

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These two fundamental ways of culturally perceiving space, are both present in Oblomov, without either of them prevailing. These essentially different and therefore conflicting ways of looking at the world, set the plot in motion. The suspense of the story derives from the question: will Oblomov move or will he not? The words "teper' ili nikogda?" turn into a question of life and death, "to be or not to be", as Oblomov himself puts it. However, this question is closely interwoven with other values of Oblomov's lifestyle. The problem of life and death will be discussed in the section 4.2.

4.0. On metaphorical use of spatial oppositions Investigating the structure of literary space inhabited by Oblomov and Stol'c, I was struck by the abundance of metaphorical use of space. Human relations, notably Oblomov's relation to the female characters, are frequently described by means of spatial oppositions. Another topic that is being treated metaphorically, is Oblomov's position in the world and in life. These moments are examples of what Jurij Lotman has called a transmitting of non-spatial relations through spatial language. BO3MO~OCTb HpocTpaHCTBCHHOFO MOJIe~4pOBaHH~ TIOH~ITH~, KOTOpble CaMH nO ce6e He I~Me]OT npocTpaHCTBCHI-IOR

np~po~i. (1971: 266) Y x e Ha ypOBHe cBepXTCKCTOBOI'O,q14CTO H,/IeoJIOFHHCCKOFO Moaenapoaanaa a3bn< npocTpancTnermbxx OTHOmeHvr~oKa3bn3aeTca onI-inu rI30CrIOBHbIX cpencTB OCMI,ICZeHVmne~cTBwrem,HOem.(267) At this point it seems advisable to distinguish between two types of metaphors. The first type, the stale metaphor, has frequently lost its power and is often no longer recognized, due to the very popular use that is being made of it. The image of the 'road of life' can be rated among this type. The other, much more original type of the fresh metaphor, is capable of catching the readers' attention and often casts a new light upon things. This type of metaphor may reveal information about values and ideas that govern a certain type of culture. In Oblomov the narrator appears to make special use of certain spatial metaphors, which are informative about the axiological and psychological model of the world. Two spatial oppositions seem to be of great importance in organizing the world picture: 'high vs. low' and 'closed vs. open'. The first parameter, 'high - low', 'up - down', 'top - bottom', i.e. a structuring of the world along a vertical axis, is interpreted traditionally as

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' g o o d - bad', 'fight - wrong', 'worthy - unworthy', etc. The second important modelling parameter is 'closed - open', 'inside - outside' and carries the meaning of, respectively, 'unfree - free', 'captivity - liberty', 'spiritual death - freedom of the mind'. As we will see, an opposite interpretation of 'closed - open' is possible as well. In that case inside space is connected with safety, whereas the outside world is conceived of as dangerous. It is noteworthy that this latter significance of the opposition is the older one, seen from a cultural-historical point of view. The possibility for one spatial parameter obtaining more than one meaning, suggests again the presence of different worldviews in the novel Oblomov.

4.1.

High vs. L o w

The relation between Oblomov and Orga is dominated by the spatial opposition High - Low. This parameter structures predominantly the psychological and moral model of the world. In various cultures the high is interpreted as a favourable location - the world of the gods on the top of a mountain or in heaven. As often as that, the low is interpreted negatively. The same is the case in Oblomov. OH [O0.rlOMOB] CMyTHO I"IOHHMaYl, qTO OHa BbrpocJIa H qyTt, JIH

He n~Ime ero... (239) Korea a [O6nOMOn] 6yay Hex~aTb Ha ~He ~TO~ rrponacT~, B~I [O~mra] Bee 6yneTe, xax qHCTbr~ aHrez, HeTaTb n~COKO, H He 3Ha~, 3axoTwre m~ 6pocwrb B Hee B3rHa;a. (258) A highly romantic motif is introduced. The beloved is compared to a pure angel, some ethereal being, untouchable and unreachable for the 'fallen angel', who is c o n d e m n e d to eternal longing for the pure, his own primeval state. 2° For a m o m e n t the image and reality even melt together: [OOJIOMOB] BH.IIHT, B~Ia~II40Ha, KaK aHFeH BOCXO/I~IT Ha HIIeT Ha ropy, TaK JIeFKO ormpaeTc~ HOFOffl, TaK K O n e 6 ~ e T c R e e CTaH. OH 3 a He~, HO OHa e/IBa I
He6eca,

(285) In this passage we see how 'high' and 'low' sometimes fuses with the 'far' and 'near'. O r g a stands, in Oblomov's eyes, morally so much higher, that the distance between them seems like an unbridgeable gap. The words

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propast' and bezdna appear whenever Oblomov talks to Ol'ga about their impossible - for the distance between them is unsurmountable - love. It is therefore all the more meaningful how Oblomov's relation to A g a f j a Matveevna is represented. This distance is bridged without difficulty, Oblomov moves easily and steadily towards his goal (one should note the use of imperfect tense to stress the motion itself). OH c t a n x a a c s c Araqbbea MaTBeeaH0~ - KaK 6yaTO nOnBaraaca z 0 r a ] 0 , 0T KOT0p0F0 CTaHOBHTCH Bee T e n a e e n T e r t n e e , riO KOTOpOrO Jn06~ITb nezlI, a a . ( 3 9 4 ) HTaK, OH IIOnBHl"aJIC.q K n e ~ , KaK K T e r t n o M y OFH]O, H O/l/4a~Kn b i r l o n B n n y J I c R o q e H b 6m~3KO, HOqTH n o no:gapa, no Kpaa-

rie~ Mepe do Bcrmiurgn. (396) What is stressed in this extremely pragmatic, almost banal relation, is precisely the closeness and warmth of this simple woman, whereas Orga, the superterrestrial creature of almost divine perfection is unattainable for him. Once, Ol'ga visits the Vyborg house. This makes Oblomov look at his world with different eyes: Kaxaa, a CaMOM neae, 3necb ranoca~,! [...] VI ~TOT anren CHyCTHJIC$1 B 60nOT0, OCB~rrKrt e r o CBOHM rtpHcyTCTBHeM!

(364) StOI'C finally takes over this symbolic language: Ecm~ 03"tuFa,

DTOT aHFe.rl, He yHec T e t R Ha CBOnX KpblJlb~,X H3 TBOeFO 6 0 n o T a , TaK ~I H H q e F 0 He c n e n a ~ o . [...] O a a x o q e T , -

cm,Imnmb? - wro6 ~ i He yMnpan C0BCeM, He norpetanca 3ax~nBO, n a otetuaJ~ orKanbiaaa~ Teta na M0rrtrmI... (401) TbI

-

npyroe neno, AHnpefl, - aoapa3wzt

06n0MOB, -

y Tet~

KpbIJIb$leC'l'b; TbI He ~
na vb~ OTB.q3aJI HX". Fne oaa, KpbIJn,S-TO? - yHbIaO roBOpHa O6aOMOB. (403) [IglTOJIbl-I:] " Y T e t H 6blJIn K p b I ~ . q ,

This dramatic conversation reflects the idea, according to which all men are born with equal capacities. By some unknown reason 21 - "kakoj-to tajnyj w a g " (cf. 4.2) - Oblomov has lost his primordial 'normal' state, the wings symbolizing movement and life itself.

200 4.2.

Katharina Hansen LOve Closed vs. Open

The second important modelling parameter is the opposition 'closed vs. open', that is linked to the previous one, 'high vs. low', through the motif of the grave. This location has simultaneous connotations of a 'low' and a 'closed' place. Oblomov is - from his own point of view - compared to a living dead, (living in) a grave, hidden under the surface of the earth. A M e x ~ y TeM OH 60JIeaHeHHO tlyBCTBOBaJI, tlTO B HeM aapblTO, KaK B MOrl4Zle, KaKOe-T0 xopomee, CBeTJIOe Haqano, MO:~KeT-

6~,ITb Tenepb y~Ke yMepmee, H~a,I JIe~KHTOHO, KaK 30nOTO B Henpax ropb~, r~ naBHO 6hi nopa ~TOMy 30nOTy 6~,~Tbxonzqe~ MOHeTO~.

Ho rny6oKo r~ T ~ e z o 3aBaneH Khan nW~HbIO, HaHocm,IM cOpOM... (100-101) This poetic, very expressive and plastic description of the tragic psychological condition the hero finds himself in, is larded with spatial images. The grave, the treasure hidden inside a mountain, piled up with junk - they recall the boloto, the swamp in the example in 4.1. Besides the opposition high - low, another spatial oppositon 'inside - outside' and 'closed - open' is at hand. The mentioning of v nedrach, zavalit', zakopat' contributes to this impression. The situation of inclusion is, in the case of this passage, interpreted negatively. It acquires the features of involuntary enclosure, imprisonment. Another interpretation, a more favourable qualification of the situation of confinement will come up in the following. In connection with the negative connotation, the motif of 'enemy' - it is noteworthy that the Russian word vrag may also designate the devil - is of interest. qTO-TO noMema~o eMy pnHyTbC~ Ha nonpmtle )KH3HH [...]. KaK01~I-TO Tal~Hbl~ epar [...]. H y ~ He BbI6paTbC~ eMy, KaxeTca, na rJ~ymn ~ nnqn Ha l'lp~lMyIO TponmrKy. JIec KpyroM er0 ~ B nyme qame H TeMHee; [...] (101) The motif of the grave is subsequently developed into the opposition between Life and Death. According to one of the worldviews, inclusion is associated with death. This does not surprise us after what has been established in the previous two sections. We diagnosed several features of the inside world that can once again be interpreted as typical for a nonliving world. It is eventless, static and timeless. Little Ilju~a, during his youth at Oblomovka, was deliberately kept inside. This is the time when everything started to go wrong. The connec-

The Structure of Space in Gondarov's 'Oblomov'

201

tion between the locked-up child and his premature fading is a connection between something spatially enclosed and death. In the other woddview, however, inclusion is not necessarily interpreted negatively. Consider the following quotation: C JIeTaMn Bom~erms H pacKaaHHe ~IBJIaJIFICbp e x e , n OH THXO H II0CTelIeHH0 yKJIaJIbIBaJIC~l B IIpOCT01Yl H IIIHpOKH~ rpo6 OCTaJIbHOFO cBoeFo cytueCTBOBaHn.q, cnenanHbn~ CO~CTBeHHBIMH pyKaMH, Kax cTaplIbI nyCTbIHHb~e,KOTOpbIe, 0TBOpOT~Cb OT 2]KH'JHH,KoIIalOT ce6e MOFHJIy. (488)

The image of the grave or coffin has remained, but it has to be interpreted in an entirely different manner. Thanks to the image of the hermit, death can now be accepted as something valuable. Due to the cited passage, I feel free to draw in some aspects of a mediaeval, Christian thinking, notably the culture of monasticism and its worldview. There are certain elements in Oblomov's character which have a resemblance (strange as it may sound) to a monk's life in seclusion. Precisely the spatial categories linked to this person hold allusions to the type of space which models monastic society. We know that Oblomov has withdrawn from life in society, the world outside his house, even outside his room. Chapter V of part 1 relates the hero's past, how he quit his job - "podal v otstavku" - and breaks off relations with acquaintances (cf. 57-63). Life in the exterior world means the denial of life itself: "Kogda Ze Zit'?" - he asks twice (59 and 64). The 'real' world has betrayed him - "on machnul rukoj na obmanuv~ie ego ili obmanutye im nadeMy" (63) - and therefore he has retreated into another world, one made up in his fantasy, invisible to ordinary humans. 06JIOMOB JIIO6HJI

yxonrrrb B ce6fl H ~)IKI4Tb B COaJIaHHOM HM

vmpe. (68) HHXTO He 3HaJI H He Bn/la.rl 9TOfi BHyTpeHHe~ XKI4~HH I~JIbn ~'IbHr-Ia, [...] 0 CHOCO{)HOCTHX eF0, O{) 9TOffl BHyTpeHrIe~ BomcalmqecI
3rIaJI nonpo6Ho n M0r CBVIaeTe~CT~BaTbII/vom,II. (70) This move away from outside life resembles a monk's leaving of the world, his uchod. It is interesting to compare some of Dmitrij Lichaeev's remarks concerning the matter: K o r n a qenoBeK y x o n w r B MOHaCTblpb, TO 3TOT 'OTXOJI OT v m p a ' Ilpe]ICTaBJlSleTCfl FJ~aBHblM o6pasoM icaK r l e p e x o a K HeI/OJIBH~KI-IOCTH, K n p e K p a n l e u m o BC~mX nepexo/IoB, KaK

202

Katharina Hansen LOve

o a x a 3 0 T C06bITm~IOF0 TeqeHri~ ~¢H3H~. 1-I0CTpI4:~KeHI4e CB~I3aH0C 06eTOMOCTaBaTbC~Ie CBHTOMMeCTCn0 rpo6a. (Licha~ev 1987-I: 640) I want to stress that I do not intend to prove a full resemblance between Oblomov and a monk. The hero of Gon6arov's novel has made no vows, there is no mentioning of faith or God, let alone that consecration takes place. A number of aspects, however, are in support of this interpretation. Oblomov obviously needs separation, seclusion and quiet, in order to be able to concentrate on what is really meaningful to him, to save his human dignity (cf. 23) - which alludes to the saving of the soul - and to guarantee his daydreaming about Oblomovka. Very consciously he rejects the outside world, taken by others to be the 'real', living world. To him this world of superficial pleasures and false values (cf. his conversation with ~tol'c in part II, ch. 4) is worthless. He even calls the Petersburg bureaucrats mer t vecy - the dead (179). All these details receive an extra dimension if we consider his solitude as a form of retreat, at the end of which he does reach a form of inner peace. The oppositional pair 'static - dynamic' can therefore be connected with the opposition between a 'dead' and a 'living' world. The interpretation, the values connected with each of these worlds, depends on the point of view (of characters and narrator) and worldview connected with it, that may change from page to page. In the eyes of ~tol'c and Orga there is no hope for their friend, once he has made his final choice. There is no return from the land of the dead, "Pogib!" - ~tol'c whispers. He fails to recognize that Oblomov has found happiness, even a certain degree of bliss, in that same 'dead' world. On the one hand, there is a complete condemnation: living in a closed world is fatal. On the other hand, for Oblomov there is the objective of saving his human dignity through withdrawal from the Petersburg society and in the end realizing this goal in a down-to-earth way, replacing the idyll of his childhood by the realistic idyll, the house of the widow. As a third instance, there is the narrator who does not choose sides. He neither condemns Oblomov nor does he explicitly agree with ~tol'c. Both worldviews are equally acceptable, seems to be his message. The reader can choose for the one or for the other or, like the narrator, he may not choose atall.

5.0. Literary history: Realism vs. Romanticism in O b l o m o v It is not my intention to question the ranking of O b l o m o v among the works of Russian Realism. Beyond all doubt, Gon~arov's novel belongs to

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203

the so-called 'primary style' works of literature. 22 At certain moments the work even takes on a polemical attitude towards the preceding period of Romanticism, its metaphors and its world pictures. This is felt particularly strongly in the introductory passages to the Oblomovka chapter. The description of the landscape (102-104) reminds one of a literary manifest in its emphatic way of denying, almost abjuring the aesthetic code of Romanticism. 23 On these pages, many prominent attributes of the traditional Romantic landscape are repudiated and replaced by contrasting elements. The foaming sea turns into a charming river, steep, wild mountains become rolling hills. The structuring of the world along a vertical axis is replaced by a more horizontal modelling of the world. Compare the following two quotations, the first from Lermontov's Geroj naJego vremeni, the second a description of Oblomovka. Ka3anocb, nopora BCJmHa He60, rIOTOMy wro, CKOJIbKOrJ~a3 MOt pa3rJu~neTb, OHa Bce nOaHm4anacb H, HaKoHeII, npona~ana B o6zaxe... (Lcrmontov 1981: 202) He6o TaM, KaxeTCg, HanpOTHB, 6m~xe ~'
(103) The established picture of nature as a dynamic, wild and magnificent force disappears. Space is domesticated and subdued to human measures. This is why the conception of space as being infinite (Romanticism) is replaced by a finite concept. Instead of being "neobozfimyj, neob"jatnyj, nedosjagaemyj" - (102-103), the landscape of Oblomovka is measurable "verst na pjatnadcar vokrug" - the river has borders, even runs into a pond. However, Gonearov did not succeed in completely putting behind him the Romantic code. A typical secondary style feature is preserved in his description of nature, where human properties are attributed to sky, sun and river. He6o [...] :~MeTCfl K 3eM.qe, qTO6 06H~q'b ee rtoKpertqe, c

n~O6OBb~O. [...] Connue [...] yaaa,aeTcs OTl-yaa He a~pyr, TO~IHO HeXOT~, KaK 6yffrO 060paqHBaeTc~ aa3a~a B3FJI$1HyTb

eme pa3 arm Jlaa Ha JnO6maoe MeCTOr~ no~apn~ eMy ocerm~o, cpejivl HeHaCTbg, ~ICHbI~, TerlJIbll~l ~em,. [...] Peza 6 e x w r

neceno, mann rt m-pan. (103-104) On other occasions the narrator even makes fun of his Romantic predecessors. In a fairly ironic tone he ridicules the traditional images of the moon and the nightingale - the luna is replaced by mesjac and the songbird

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Katharina Hansen LOve

substituted by a quail. But again, part of the code that is being denied is preserved. One metaphor is replaced by another, the use of simile as such, an attribute of secondary style literature, is not questioned, when the mesjacis compared to a"mednyj vyei~eennyj taz" (104). The picture of Oblomovka that is eventually evoked, shows affinity with the idyllic landscape, that emerges every now and then in the course of literary evolution. This is due to the limited number of settings, possible in literature. Each literary period is in fact compelled to make its choices and selections of locations from a finite set of alternatives. These limitations probably account, in part, for the pattern of alternating systems. 24 K a ~ b i ~ cvrtrm, qbopr,~pyucb, o6pamae'rcu K npemuecrBylOIII~M e T a , pO2ICTBeHHbIMeMy no cBoeMy xaparcrepy. (Licha~ev 1987: 216) Notwithstanding some clear-cut Realistic features in the Oblomovka picture, it fulfils at the same time the role of a Romantic, idealized place, somewhere 'far away', where the hero hopes to find rest and peace from the troubles of 'this world'. Oblomov's Romantic nature longs for a place where he is not. Like the heroes in the works of Byron, Pu~kin, Lermontov and partly Bestu~ev-Marlinskij, Oblomov wants to flee society, to escape the established way of life in the capital. But unlike his predecessors, it is not the exotic and raw South, the Caucasus or the Orient he is longing for. His dreams are projected on a more 'realistic' place - his estate. The opposition, typical for the world picture of Russian Romanticism, 'the capital (Moscow/Petersburg) vs. the Caucasus', is in the period of Realism replaced by the opposition 'the city vs. the estate'. The basic opposition 'urban vs. rural', however, remains. In Oblomov another spatial opposition is activated simultaneously, namely the notions of distance and proximity, 'near vs. distant'. Oblomov's yearning is for the distant, not only in space but also in time. The Oblomovka he dreams of belongs to the past and he knows it is no longer the same anymore. What he 'chooses' in the end, is the exact opposite, it is the 'near' and 'present' of the house in the Vyborg district that eventually becomes his refuge from the world. The notion of a rural life is now attributed to the Vyborg district, the location is depicted in agrarian terms, there are chickens, a rooster and a goat, the yard is watched by a-dog (cf. p. 482). Here, in this substitute Oblomovka, Oblomov in the end finds peace. In this respect we could even argue that he has overcome his own Romantic nature. In his acceptance, his resignation, his reconciliation even, with the 'here and now', Oblomov acts as a Realist.

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6.0. The two worldviews Recapitulating what has been established on literary space in Oblomov we can summarize the dominant features of its structure as follows: the whole of literary space in Gon~arov's novel is divided according to different worldviews, namely those of a declining feudal world and those of a rising business culture, seen against the background of bureaucratic Petersburg society. The contrast between the two types of culture is predominantly realized by the opposition between static and dynamic space. These are the two basic structures of the world, with each member of the opposition implementing a different modelling of space. In the statically conceived world of Oblomov the organization of space is based on the opposition inside - outside, that runs parallel to other spatial oppositions like 'closed vs. open', and is linked to non-spatial notions such as 'we - the others', 'safe - hostile', 'warm - cold', 'known foreign'. The meaning that is attributed to the spatial parameters is an indication of very archaic world pictures lying at the roots of the 'feudal' worldview. The border function, ascribed to the Volga and Neva rivers, is another hint in that direction. Boundaries and barriers marking the line between two territories are of special importance in Oblomov's world. Seen from his viewpoint they are interpreted favourably, as 'protection', seen by 'outsiders' they have negative meaning. On the other hand, there exists the dynamic world of the careerman ~tol'c, which is not sensitive to boundaries at all. In connection with this second type of culture I want to point shortly to an episode unmentioned up till now. What I bear in mind is the idyll of Stol'c and Ol'ga's mauimonial life in their house on the Crimea, chapter 8 of part 4. Like Oblomov they have moved to the periphery - "na ju~nyj bereg Kryma" and at first sight they seem to have established a same kind of 'bytovaja idillija' as Oblomov had tried to create in his room on Gorochovaja street and has finally found in the house of the widow. Their home is equally filled with 'things' (459-460) and children, but it lacks the boredom and sleepiness typical for the prototype of Oblomovian space. TOJIbKO He 6btJI0 JlpeMOTbI, yHbIHHfl y HHX, 6es cKym,l, 6e3

anaaa,m rlpoBonnm,i onn aHVt. (465) Though ~tol'c, with the growing of years, has replaced his 'nomadic' way of life by a more sedentary one, the notion of enclosement is altogether absent from this picture of the world. This can be derived from the fact that the Crimean location is represented as a harmonious oneness of inner and outer sphere, the passage between the two territories - inside and outside of the house - appears as gradual, without marked lines or boundaries

Kathadna Hansen Lrve

206

(465-466). Stol'c, with his entrepreneur mentality, is a representative of modern mercantilism or business culture, which in this novel is wrestling with ancient feudal culture. According to the worldview of the former, comfort and rest can be attained through hard working only and not by heritage. In the novel at hand, the worldviews of the two cultures are juxtaposed by giving the vision of each on same situations. This is one of the reasons why it has been interesting to consider the point of view. All these double visions - of Oblomov's room in the centre and his behaviour in it, of the similar situation in the house on the periphery - can be traced back to the ambivalent picture of Oblomovka in the dream chapter.

6.1.

Proper and improper behaviour

From the point of view of St. Petersburg, i.e. bureaucratic, culture, Oblomov's behaviour in space is improper (cf. Van Baak 1981: 393). It is not accepted that one hides from public life by locking oneself up and finally moving to the outskirts. Proper behaviour from the point of view of the established culture is displayed by Oblomov only during his stay at the dada. But eventually, he lacks the flexibility to adjust his behaviour to his environment. A conflicting situation occurs in each case where he behaves as if he were in Oblomovka. He falls to recognize that his way of life is literally 'out of place' in Petersburg. This 'wrong' behaviour contributes to the conflict which finally leads to the hero's 'destruction'.

University of Amsterdam

NOTES 1 2 3

A survey of their publications on this subject will be found in the bibliography under Lotman 1968, 1971, 1975, 1979, 1984, 1986 and Van Baak 1981, 1983, 1983a, 1984. Classification of topological oppositions can be found in Ivanov & Toporov 1965, Lotman 1971 and 1975, Van Baak 1981 and 1983. Van der Eng's def'mition of parallelism differs somewhat from Jakobson's. According to the first, parallelism is only one of the subcategories in the system of likeness and unlikeness ('Sistema ob~ego i raznogo', Van der Eng 1973: 43). Whereas Jakobson uses the concept of parallelism to designate this system as such.

The Structure o f Space in Gondarov's 'Oblomov'

4

5

6 7 8

9 lO

11

12

13 14

207

Cf. also Gon~arov's own comments on the esthetics and poetics of his own work, in his article ' L u ~ e pozdno dem nikogda', in: Sobranie sodinenij v 8mi tomach, tom 8 (Moskva 1953:64-114). Setting: the place plus the social and cultural circumstances; cf. also Van der Eng 1978: 15-17, who, following E. Muir 1928 (quotations in Van der Eng 1978), points to the importance of the setting in the type of novel called the character novel, to which type Oblomov obviously belongs. From here on, all quotations from this edition only. A.G. Cejtlin is able to exactly situate the events in Oblomov between 1819 (when Oblomov was seven years old) and 1856, cf. Cejtlin 1950: 162-164. Michel Butor (1964: 53-54) formulates this relation the foUowing way: "[...] car l'ameublement dans le roman ne joue pas seulement un r61e 'po6tique' de proposition, mais de r6v61ateur, car ces objets sont bien plus 1i6s ~ notre existence que nous ne l'admettons commun6ment. D6crire des meubles, des objets, c'est uric faqon de d6crire des personnages, indispensable: il y a des choses que l'on ne peut faire sentir ou comprendre que si l'on met sous roeil du lecteur le d6cor et les accessoires". A similar spatial intrusion by means of a letter recurs in the ninth - the dream - chapter, cf. 139-140. "Given the presence of a boundary, the nature of this boundary may convey essential information about the world picture in question" (Van Baak 1983: 71). Apart from marking the boundary between inner and outer space, the door is a crucial part of the house, the territory into which man retreats, where he finds shelter and security. "Dom obespe~ivaet zamknutoe prostranstvo, v kotorom mo~no ukryt'sja, odnako bez dveri zamknutoe prostranstvo ne su~stvuet". (Civ'jan 1978: 70). There is an obvious kinship between these literary 'types' and the characters in Gogol's Metfvye duJi, especially the similarity between the description of Ci~ikov at the beginning of the novel and the identically' faceless' Alekseev catches the eye. This fact is summarized in the traditional sentence for retirement: "Podal v otstavku" (57). In 'Formy vremeni i chronotopa v romane', Michail Bachtin (1968: 258259) records the following three, main, features of the idyll: a. [...] oprannqecKas npvirpermermoCTb, rrpnpamennocTb ~ n a n n wee co6brrrr~ K MecaT¢ - K poano~ cTpane co Bcer,m ee yroJn~aMn [...] K pomIOMy nOMy. b. [...] CTpOras orpannqermoc~ ee TOrmKO OCrlOBrmIMn HeMrIOrOqHCJIeHHbIMH peaJIbHOCTHMH )KH3HH.

c. [...] coqeTanHe qenoBcqecKoR )KH'3HHC )KH3HblOnpHponbL.. 15 In thCOretical studies of the semiotics of the town - in particular St. Petersburg - the antithetical pair 'centre vs. periphery' is repeatedly mentioned. The most prominent location in the centre is, of course, the Ncvskij prospekt, whereas the islands, such as the Vasil'evskij ostrov, Kolomna, or in our case,

208

16 17

18

19

2O

21

22

23

Katharina Hansen LOve

the Vyborg district in the North, constitute the 'okraina' - the land on the border. Cf. Ju. Lotman 1984: 41. Other articles dealing with this subject are by Toporov 1984 and Lotman and Uspenskij 1982. For subsequent development of his thoughts on this subject, see Lotman 1971, ch. 8, and Lotman 1979. On this occasion Van Baak quotes Philippe Hamon (1972: 471), where note no. 15 reads as follows: "Une pr6supposition existe donc- du moins dans le r6cit classique - entre le personnage et son d6cor, rapparition du premier impliquantimm6diatementcelle du second,etinversement." Concepts like put' and doroga are of special importance in the writings of the Moscow-Tartu school. "'Doroga' - nekotoryj tip chudo~stvennogo prostranstva, 'put" - dvi~enie literatumogo persona~a v ~tom prostranstve. 'Put" est' realizacija (polnaj a ili nepoinaja) ili nerealizacij a 'dorogi'" (Lotman 1968: 47). Special attention to the etymology of the Russian word prostranstvo is payed by Toporov (1983: 239). Radial space and itinerant space are the two most fundamental ways of culturally perceiving space. The terms are derived from ethnography and used, among others, by Van Baak (1983a: 29). The image of the propast' can be traced back to the ovrag in Oblomovka (118). "These images [high-low] are not without a realistic basis in his experience: they are the dreamlike exaggerations of the fearful ravine supposedly swarming with all sorts of horror- that little Ilya was not allowed to approach. The region of the unknown and of its undeveloped self becomes his hell; for bog and abyss are appropriate images of heU" (Lyngstad 1971: 111). I do not wish to enter here into the discussion about what these reasons may be. There is a long tradition of interpreting 'Oblomovism', ever since N.A. Dobroljubov's article '~to takoe oblomov~ina?' in 1859. In Soviet literary criticism it is chiefly serfdom and its influence on the Russian gentry that is being blamed for it, cf. Cejtlin 1950. It was D.S. Licha~ev who introduced the distinction between primary and secondary style works. According to this theory, all major styles can be classified along altemating systems, the secondary being a necessary reaction to the primary one. Secondary styles are marked by a strong emphasis on conventionality, ornamentalism and an often complicated aesthetic code that needs to be learned before the work of art can be understood. The primary style, on the contrary, is of very low conventionality and does not focus very strongly on the code nature of art. Licha~ev (1987: 209-222) distinguishes the following pairs of resp. primary and secondary style works: "Romantic Gothic", "Renaissance - Baroque", "Classicism - Romanticism", "Realism Symbolism". It should be kept in mind that chapter 9 of part I, the dream, was written and published some ten years earlier (1849). The 'need' for the author to distance himself from the Romantic tradition and its influence could very well have been more urgent at that time. This circumstance could account for the strong

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209

polemical nature of this chapter in comparison with the rest of the novel, which lacks such details. 24 Literary history as a form of evolution and the laws of heredity governing its development, were first described by the Russian Formalist Jurij Tynjanov in his 1927 article 'O literatumoj ~voljucii'.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Van Baak, J.J. 1981 1983 1983a 1984 1988 Bachtin, M.M. 1986 Butor, M. 1964 Cejtlin, A.G. 1950 Civ'jan, T.V. 1978 Eng, J. vander 1973 1978

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