Sarah McDowell Professor Shkandrij RUSN 2740 27 April 2011 Irony, Setting and Imagery in Platonovs Sredi zhivotnykh

i rastenii Although considered by modern literary scholars to be one of his most important short works, Sredi zhivotnykh i rastenii (Among Animals and Plants) was declared unfit for publication by the Writers Union of the Soviet Union and it was not until 1998 that Platonovs original story was published in full in a rare journal (Chandler xxvii). Among Animals and Plants was written in 1936 after Platonovs state-sponsored visit to Karelia and meeting with Ivan Alekseyevich Fyodorov, a railway switchman at Medvezhya Gora (Bear Hill) who had recently been decorated with the Order of the Red Star. This visit inspired Platonovs story, whose main character is based on and named after this railwayman (Chandler xix-xx; Spiridonova 106). Platonov portrays life in the Soviet Union as not being better and merrier1 as was proclaimed by the propaganda slogans of the 1930s. Contrary to what was touted by the official party line, Platonov was deeply aware of the persistent poverty and persecution that many faced under Stalins regime. Platonovs story can be viewed as an allegory of life in the Soviet Union. His writing expresses his own disillusionment with what Soviet society had become. In Among Animals and Plants Platonov tells us the story of a switchman working on a remote section of track in Northern Russia, but he also uses irony, setting and imagery to convey the stories of many other people which he is forbidden from telling.

Stalin in 1935 notoriously claimed that Life has become better, life has become merrier.

Platonov wrote Among Animals and Plants as part of his contribution to a statecommissioned collection of stories about heroic railway workers (Chandler xix; Spiridonova 106). According to the Platonov scholar Irina Spiridonova, the story was discussed at a meeting of the Writers Union in July 1936 and underwent harsh criticism. It was rejected from the collection due to his language, style, subject and philosophy. The debate about the story in ensuing years unfolded over fundamental questions: the relationship between art and life, the truth, the hero and the purpose of life. Platonov continued his struggle to publish the story and in 1940 a watered-down version of it appeared in a journal under a different title, Zhizn v semeistve2 (106). Chandler reports that Platonov was required to make numerous changes to the story in order for it to be published (xxvii). Spiridonova points out that the new title retains a memory of the former since the word semeistvo means a general category in the taxonomy of plants and animals, uniting things that are close in origin. She goes on to say that the story can be viewed as that of an individual coming into being. Two forgotten civilizations involved in the upbringing of a person are shown: nature and family (106). The story opens with a beautiful but haunting description of a forest, which Spiridonova considers to be a metaphor of social-historical life (Ibid.). Both scholars place emphasis on Platonovs use of the word population when referring to the forest creatures and Spiridonova notes that each animal has its own face and biography, giving further evidence of the personification of animals and pointing out Platonovs analogy between the forest population and human society (Chandler xxiv; Spiridonova 106). Platonov evokes an atmosphere of fear and accentuates the struggle for daily
2

English title would be Family Life (Chandler xxvii)

existence in the forest, where creatures can fall victim to unknown predators just by making the slightest sound. Among Animals and Plants is set in Karelia in Lobskaia Gora and Medvezhya Gora (Bear Hill). Robert Chandler, a translator of many of Platonovs works, asserts that it is not mere coincidence that Platonov chose Bear Hill as the setting for the story. He notes that this small northern stationhad become the headquarters for the construction of the White Sea Canal, the first of Stalins vast slave-labor [sic] projects (xxii). There were over 170,000 prisoners working in White Sea Canal labour camps and more than 25,000 of them died.3 Chandler reports that from 1931 to 1936 Medvezhya Gora was, in effect, the capital of the Gulag Archipelago; most of the towns population must have been doing work related in one way or another to the camps (xxiii). This remote and cruel locale works to draw the discerning reader into a dark frame of mind that naturally accompanies this tragic period in Soviet history. Platonov sets the mood in the first sentence, in which Fyodorov was walking in the gloom of nature4 (Platonov, Animals 155). The area is very remote and primitive, with such poor soil that even the trees had difficulty growing. Strange animal noises fill the forest, perhaps meaning that someone had perished5 (Ibid.). A pathetic cry is described as coming from a creature trembling from the fear of its own existence6 (Ibid., 156). Chandler points out the word perish appears three times in the first page (xxiv). The repetition of key words like existence and consciousness in the opening passage help

3 4 5 6

This is according to low estimates (Chandler xxii) (Platonov, Sredi 1) (Ibid.) (Ibid.)

set a fateful mood. Once within this dark mindset, it is hard not to realize Platonovs many uses of irony when relating the new cultured, scientific life that was unfolding at Bear Hill. One such example occurs when Ivan Fyodorov explains to his wife the benefits of relocating to Bear Hill: People have merry lives in Bear Hill. One can get oneself educated there, and its easier to be noticed7 (Platonov, Animals 171). The words of
Fyodorovs boss also provide a vivid description of the bright future that was supposedly

already in existence at Bear Hill. He did not attempt to hold Ivan back: let the man go to a big station, let him develop himself in a town with a theater, a library, intelligentsia and music. You can deny a man an extra ruble or one of lifes comforts, but you cant deny him what he needs for his soulyoull end up with nothing: no man and no worker8 (Ibid.). Chandler claims that Platonovs many descriptions of the wonderful attractions of life at Bear Hill unveil an abyss of irony so deep as to be almost dizzying (xxii). Platonov does not rely solely on the ominous setting of the White Sea Canal to invoke the plight of the gulag prisoners but also uses tone to convey his message. Chandler finds the tone of the story irreverent and subversive and, like many commentators, indicates that Platonovs writing is often full of incongruous words or phrases that undermine the surface content (xxi). He cites the following passage as an example: Sucking up all the air behind it, the train gave the switch a merciless working over.
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, , ! (Platonov, Sredi 9). , , , , ; , , , (Ibid., 10).

Aha! Kaganovich really has given you a fright. Four minutes late out of the forestand only three at the switch! Fyodorov calculated. Dramatic stuff! But there was no chance now of hearing music from the train or being able to make out a human being. Formerly the water from the toilets had flowed out in a stream, but now it was thin vapourthe speed of the train was tearing it into prickly spray. (Platonov, Animals 168) . , : , , , , ! , , . , , . (Platonov, Sredi 8) This is an example of Platonov using irony to portray the message he wants to send to his readers. The name of Kaganovich9 is taken too lightly here and the phrase the train gave the switch a merciless working over sounds like something the NKVD might do to one of the enemies of the people. The incongruity in Platonovs prose stems from the use of jargon in an inappropriate context. Besides the use of irony, an evocative landscape and incongruous language, Platonov accentuates certain images that shape his literary world. Several themes occur
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Stalins minster of transportation and one of his most loyal adjutants; one of those most responsible for the regimes crimes against humanity.

throughout Platonovs works. One of the dominant themes in his prose is the locomotive. Locomotives figure prominently in Among Animals and Plants and are often connected with enthusiasm for the revolution and its slogans (Chandler xx and Levchenko). Platonov as a young man remembered Karl Marx saying that Revolutions are the locomotives of history (qtd. in Chandler xx). He took great interest in locomotives and worked on them for many years as an engineer. The idea of the locomotive as a representation of the revolution is further expanded upon by the Platonov scholar Nina Malygina. She considers the engine in general to be one of the main images in his prose. She asserts that in many of his works the locomotive plays the role of the engine capable of carrying people off into a new, different life. She perceives the locomotive in Among Animals and Plants as the symbol of the heros realized ideal (76). After 1926 Platonov became disillusioned with the revolution and no longer believed the quotation that had inspired him as a young man. A character in one of his other stories says, I used to think that the revolution was a locomotive, but now I can see that it isnt10 (qtd. in Chandler xx). It is likely that Platonov was inserting an autobiographical element here. The locomotive first appears at the very beginning of the story in a comparison of the trains whistle to the plaintive voice of an exhausted running man (Platonov, Animals 156). This image is even more striking in the original.11 Chandler views the locomotives in Among Animals and Plants as representing a parodic embodiment of a utopia already supposed to exist (Chandler xxi). According to official discourse, utopia
10 11

, , , (qtd. in Levchenko). , , , , , (Platonov, Sredi 1).

had been established in the Soviet Union by the mid-1930s (Ibid., xx). The Fyodorov family is able to glance at the splendid new life that seems to them to have been established everywhere except in their own little hamlet (Ibid., xxi), observing the new utopia as they watch the locomotives pass through their remote settlement. The second reference to trains occurs when Fyodorov is at home and gloomy after an argument with his wife. To console himself during such moments of domestic turmoil he often thought of trains: Fyodorov liked to imagine long-distance express trains, the light of electricity behind the blinds of the carriage windows, and the joyful music that played inside the train and that he sometimes heard as he leaned against the counterweight of the points lever. Out there was science, fame, higher education, the new Moscow Metropolitan railway, while here were only animals, the forest and his familynothing so very special, but for the time being it was best to be patient and not get into arguments. (Platonov, Animals 161) , , , , , . , , , , , , , , . (Platonov, Sredi 4)

The train, which symbolizes modernity, speeds across the primeval landscape. Spiridonova claims that this here vs. there spatial opposition that occurs throughout the story represents not only the present social drama but also the eternal break between reality and dreams (106). Another image of the locomotive appears when Fyodorov is working the night shift: The rails were singing in tunethe whole stretch was intact and healthy. But gradually this steady wavelike hum was joined by a vague extraneous mutter. Then this mutter grew more distinct and insistent; it was almost articulating words. This language was being spoken by a voice that was young and singing, and there were no false notes, no sounds of jangling irritation (Platonov, Animals 166-7) , . , . , , ; , , ... (Platonov, Sredi 7) Here, as in the first reference, the sound of the train takes on an almost human-like quality, but instead of sounding like an exhausted running man it is a young, singing voice. Then a train passes through his section from the south on the way to Murmansk. The locomotives calm light rose up from beyond the horizon, chasing the darkness forward and over the forest, lighting up deep blue living trees, bushes, mysterious
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objects unknown during the day, and the figure of a railwayman, watching over the track in darkness and solitude12 (Platonov, Animals 167). The locomotives light here represents the light in the darkness uncovering mysterious objects that were invisible during the day which are now able to be seen. What these objects might be is up to the reader to decide but one cannot help but wonder, given the setting and his use of the words temnota and odinochestvo, if it is something sinister. Another Platonov scholar, Maria Levchenko, says that train accidents are quite common in Platonovs prose and represent the moment of a persons rebirth. Such an incident occurs at the end of the story. The train symbolizes the human world and the tragic fate of a generation. During this time in history many people sacrificed their lives for the revolutionary cause. Music plays an important role in Platonovs stories from the 1930s and is another main theme in Among Animals and Plants (Malygina 85). Frequent references are made throughout the story to both music and sound. After seeing powerful locomotives pass by every day, Ivan Fyodorov begins to sense a connection between music, locomotives and books: Secretly and hazily he perceived the correspondence or kinship between music, books and locomotives; machines and music seemed to him to have been invented by one and the same heart, a heart like his own13 (Platonov, Animals 174). Chandler also believes music to be an important theme in the story. He stresses the need to read between the lines when Platonov writes about music always playing in

12

- , , , , , , (Platonov, Sredi 7). 13 , ; , , (Platonov, Sredi 11).

Bear Hill. He states that the NKVD bosses in charge of building the White Sea Canal professed immense faith in the power of music and often used music as a tool to inspire workers to work harder (Chandler xxvi). Historian Cynthia Ruder notes that music, especially marches, was thought to be able to provide inmates with a renewed spirit of labor [sic] (qtd. in Chandler xxvii). Considering this association, it is no wonder that once in a while Fyodorov does not feel moved by music. Now and then he would fall into despair and irritation, no longer able to see the bright horizon always promised to him by music, by reading, by the art of imagination and the excitement of a sensitive heart. It was as if he had become stupid and his soul had stopped caring about anything14 (Platonov, Animals 172). In Among Animals and Plants music is often heard from passing trains. This allows Fyodorov to hear a little bit of the new, cultured life that was happening in other places but had so far not reached their little village. The role of the radio is also important in allowing the inhabitants of Lobskaia Gora to hear all the rest of that other world lying beyond them, where universal history was happening and you can listen to the voices of the movers of fate15 (Ibid., 161). At first Ivans father, Aleksey Kirillovich, did not trust the radio because he could not understand the science behind it and it couldnt write, it didnt leave you with any documents, and so there was no guarantee that the cardboard trumpet was telling the truth 16 (Ibid., 161-2). Here Platonov is making an allusion to the Soviet habit of always
14

15

16

, , , , . (Platonov, Sredi 10). , , , (Ibid., 4). , , , (Ibid.).

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requiring some sort of documents. Aleksey Kirillovich makes a special trip to Petrozavodsk in order to test out the radio to see for himself how it works. His wife is unable to hear him because the radio was not working properly that day. Despite this he now believes in the radio and says, if theres anyone who doesnt believedown with him, hes a class enemy!17 (Ibid., 162). Here is an example of how Platonov mixes the political jargon of the day with the everyday speech of the common people. This is the second mention of the term class enemy in the story. At home in their peasant hut, the radio was turned on and the Fyodorov family began to hear about the far-off, luxurious life. After some announcements and songs, a choir of young girls voices began a song about heroic socialism, about happy people, about interesting life. The maidens were singing from a long way away, but the sense of the music remained clear: people should live in bliss, not in need and torment18 (Ibid.). Here Platonov uses the song of the young girls to express irony about the joys of socialism and the utopia which had already been established. Platonov also ironically portrays the radio as a motivating force for people. Ivans mother, inspired by the things she heard on the radio, decides to start a new life for herself, getting a job at a tar works and no longer needing to rely on her husband or son: She took the documents testifying to her birth and origins, put them in a cloth shoulder bag and threw herself into the great life she had learned about

17 18

, (Platonov, Sredi 5). , , . , , , (Ibid.).

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from the radio19 (Ibid., 175). The use of irony and incongruous imagery undermines official Soviet pronouncements. The literary scholar Thomas Seifrid considers Platonov to be one of the important early dissenters from Soviet utopianism (2). Indeed, Platonov is critical of the utopian dreamer and shows us how, in many of his stories, the need for action overrides blind faith in a prosperous future. In order to change their lives, his characters must step out of their comfort zones and take action. At the end of Among Animals and Plants Ivan Fyodorov takes this step when he risks his life to stop a train running out of control towards people working below, saving their lives. Ivan becomes a hero and an invalid for life (Spiridonova 107). Deborah Treisman, the fiction editor for the New Yorker, has described the story as a work of social criticism and satire (Weights and Measures). In an interview with Robert Chandler, she suggests that the story is fundamentally political. Chandler does not agree with this; he does not consider Platonovs work to be of a solely political nature but instead contends that although Platonov was most definitely keenly aware of politics it was not the driving force behind his literature (Ibid.). Platonov was mainly concerned with people and the theme of helping others figures prominently in his works. As the prominent Russian poet Evgeny Evtushenko put it, In the Soviet period of Russian literature there has never been a writer more honest and loving to people 20 (qtd. in Krokhina). Spiridonova observes that it is not the idea of life but life itself which

19

20

, , (Ibid., 12). (qtd. in Krokhina).

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becomes the hero of Platonovs works (Spiridonova 107). Scholars have come to understand and appreciate the importance of Platonov only relatively recently in the grand scheme of Russian literature. Platonov lived during the most severe period of Stalins regime. Based on these historical circumstances, he was forced to write under very strict censorship, in a style that was acceptable to the Soviet authorities. His stories are filled with incongruous words and phrases which reveal an undercurrent of his own philosophy. By using irony, setting and imagery Platonov presents hidden messages in Among Animals and Plants. These elements are also the key to understanding his other works.

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