In the World of the Outcasts

Pëtr Filippovich Iakubovich, Andrew A. Gentes

Description

The first English-language translation of P. F. Iakubovich’s popular roman à clef about his exile and experiences as a Siberian penal laborer during the late nineteenth century.

Pëtr F. Iakubovich was born in Novgorod Province to a noble family in 1860, during a period of upheaval in Russia called the Great Reforms. In 1884, he was arrested and convicted as a member of the terrorist organization the People’s Will. Iakubovich spent five years at a Siberian penal labor prison, followed by several more as a forced settler in Tobolsk Province. He began writing about his experiences while still in prison. The book he eventually produced is a quasi-fictionalized memoir loosely modeled on Dostoyevsky’s “Notes from a Dead House.”

Iakubovich represents himself through his protagonist Ivan Nikolaevich. For most of Volume One, Ivan Nikolaevich must deal, as an imprisoned nobleman, with a population largely comprised of violent criminals. As commoners, these are people with whom he barely interacted in his earlier life, but he is now living cheek-by-jowl with them. His conflicts and faux pas with Buzzy, Goncharov, the cousins Burenkov et al. are by turns comic and dreadful. Ivan Nikolaevich nevertheless manages to befriend several and to learn their life stories. Iakubovich uses these character vignettes to cast light on Imperial Russia’s underclass. Though his circumstances do not afford the privileges he previously enjoyed, Ivan Nikolaevich does enjoy unusual access to the lonely and jaded prison commandant, Luchezarov—better known to prisoners as “Six-Eyes.” But despite his verbal jousts with Luchezarov, Ivan Nikolaevich finds himself contemplating suicide.

Volume Two begins with the arrival at the prison of two fellow revolutionaries—Dmitrii Shteinhart and Valerian Bashurov. Ivan Nikolaevich is overjoyed to find himself with like-minded compatriots, and the three self-styled reformers take it upon themselves to undermine Luchezarov’s increasingly despotic management and to improve conditions for all the prisoners. Several conflicts emerge, and Iakubovich uses these to both parody and indict the penal justice system and Russian bureaucracy. Finally, Luchezarov is forced from office and the prison regime he installed is condemned by a superior. Soon after, Ivan Nikolaevich leaves prison for forced settlement. This much briefer section of the work concerns his difficulty in readjusting to life outside prison and his joy at being joined by his sister (in real life, she was Iakubovich’s fiancée). The book ends with a melancholy reflection on the human destruction wrought by the tsarist penal system.

Acknowledgments; Introduction; A Note on Transliteration; Characters; In Place of a Foreword; ON THE THRESHOLD: Part I; Part II; Part III; Part IV; Part V; SHELAI MINE: The Encounter; First Night; First Day’s Impressions and Understandings; Inside the Barrel-Organ; In the Mine’s Depths; We Begin; Prison Workdays; My School Begins; Malakhov and Goncharov; My Students the Burenkovs; Semënov; Reading the Bible, Iashka-the-Marmot, The Poet, The Penal Laborer; Chirok; Luchezarov; Great Poets Face the “Katorga” Tribunal; Shah Lamas; The Usual Outcome; In the Mining Gallery; THE LITTLE EAGLE OF FERGANA; SOLITUDE: In a New Ward, Innocents and Brutes; Efimov, A Prison Sophist and Mephistopheles; Demons of Evil and Destruction; New Students, Lunkov; Sakhalin Disturbances; Nikifor’s Romance, The Send-Off; Escapes and First Blood; The Wagger Amuses Me; A Massacre of Women and Innocents; A Curious Conversation; Hitting Back; Shelai’s Guests; Night; Notes

Sujets

• Romance
• Criminology
• Social sciences

Informations

• Publié par: Anthem Press
• Date de parution: 15 février 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 5
• EAN13: 9781783081141
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

In the World of

the Outcasts

ANTHEM SERIES ON RUSSIAN, EAST EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN STUDIES

Anthem Series on Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies publishes original research on the economy, politics, sociology, anthropology and history of the region. The series aims to promote critical scholarship in the field, and has built a reputation for uncompromising editorial and production standards. The breadth of the series reflects our commitment to promoting original scholarship on Russian and East European studies to a global audience.

Series Editor

Balázs Apor – Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Editorial Board

Bradley F. Abrams – President, Czechoslovak Studies Association, USA Jan C. Behrends – Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung, Potsdam, Germany Dennis Deletant – University College London, UK Tomasz Kamusella – University of St Andrews, UK Walter G. Moss – Eastern Michigan University, USA Arfon Rees – University of Birmingham, UK Marshall T. Poe – University of Iowa, USA Maria Todorova – University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, USA

In the World of

the Outcasts

Notes of a Former Penal Laborer

Volume I

By Pëtr Filippovich Iakubovich

Translated with an Introduction by Andrew A. Gentes

Anthem Press An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company www.anthempress.com

This edition first published in UK and USA 2014 by ANTHEM PRESS 75–76 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HA, UK or PO Box 9779, London SW19 7ZG, UK and 244 Madison Ave #116, New York, NY 10016, USA

Translation, Introduction and editorial matter copyright © Andrew A. Gentes 2014

The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

Cover image: ‘Appearances and types [of inhabitants] on Sakhalin island’ by Innokentii Ignat’evich Pavlovskii

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

British Library CataloguinginPublication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data P. IA. (Petr IAkubovich), 1860–1911, author. [V mire otverzhennykh. English] In the world of the outcasts : notes of a former penal laborer / by Pëtr Filippovich Iakubovich ; translated with an introduction by Andrew A. Gentes. volumes ; cm. – (Anthem series on Russian, East European and Eurasian studies) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 9781783081110 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. P. IA. (Petr IAkubovich), 1860–1911–Exile. 2. Exiles–Russia (Federation)–Siberia–Biography. 3. Prisoners–Russia (Federation)–Siberia–History–19th century. 4. Prisons–Russia (Federation)– Siberia–History–19th century. I. Gentes, Andrew Armand, 1964 translator, writer of added commentary. II. P. IA. (Petr IAkubovich), 1860–1911. V mire otverzhennykh. Translation of: III. Title. IV. Series: Anthem series on Russian, East European and Eurasian studies. DK770.I2313 2013 957’.07092–dc23 [B] 2013043691

ISBN13: 978 1 78308 111 0 (Hbk) ISBN10: 1 78308 111 2 (Hbk)

This title is also available as an ebook.

On the Threshold I. II. III. IV. V.

VOLUME I

N

TS

TEN

Shelai Mine I. The Encounter II. First Night III. First Day’s Impressions and Understandings IV. Inside the BarrelOrgan V. In the Mine’s Depths VI. We Begin VII. Prison Workdays VIII. My School Begins IX. Malakhov and Goncharov X. My Students the Burenkovs XI. Semënov XII. Reading the Bible; IashkatheMarmot; The Poet; The Penal Laborer XIII. Chirok XIV. Luchezarov XV. Great Poets Face theKatorgaTribunal XVI. Shah Lamas

IN THE WORLD OF THE OUTCASTS (Vol. I)

29 31 36 40 50 61 72 80 87 92 100 110 117 125 130 136 146

5 6 10 15 21 26

3

Acknowledgments Introduction A Note on Transliteration Characters

In Place of a Foreword

ix xi xix xix

C

O

vi

IN THE WORLD OF THE OUTCASTS

XVII. The Usual Outcome XVIII. In the Mining Gallery

The Little Eagle of Fergana

Solitude I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII.

Notes

Characters

In a New Ward; Innocents and Brutes Efimov; A Prison Sophist and Mephistopheles Demons of Evil and Destruction New Students; Lunkov Sakhalin Disturbances Nikifor’s Romance; The SendOff Escapes and First Blood The Wagger Amuses Me A Massacre of Women and Innocents A Curious Conversation Hitting Back Shelai’s Guests Night

VOLUME II

IN THE WORLD OF THE OUTCASTS (Vol. II)

With Comrades I. In the Mining Smithy II. Desired Guests III. Shteinhart’s Story IV. Starting Over V. The “Stolen” Manifesto VI. A StandOff VII. Heroes of the New Group; Pronia’s Discovery VIII. The Misunderstandings Continue; SixEyes’s Intervention IX. A Story out ofRocambole X. Farewells XI. Anxieties of a Different Sort XII. Triumph of a Lady Politician XIII. Life Returns to Its Usual Rut XIV. “Ataman Storm” and the Beginning of His Career XV. A Steep Fall

155 160

169

185 187 199 206 211 222 229 236 242 247 253 257 266 272

275

i

x

3 5 17 26 33 44 57 70 81 91 98 103 119 133 142 156

CONTENTS

XVI. Shelai’s Renown; Passion for a Writer; Convict Dreamers XVII. Nightmares XVIII. DayDream XIX. End of the Shelai “Model Prison”

Mare on the Road

Among the Hills

Epilogue

From the Author (Postscriptum)

Notes

vii

168 179 190 204

213

239

267

271

281

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This project began around five years ago as I was completing my first translation,Russia’s Penal Colony in the East: A Translation of Vlas Doroshevich’s “Sakhalin”(Anthem, 2009). As with that translation, I wish to thank Tej P. S. Sood for accepting this one for publication. Thanks as well to my editor Brian Stone and the rest of the staff at Anthem. Nadia Golenkova and Auken Tungatorova helped with some particularly difficult passages. I also appreciate the services of my proofreader Alexey Golubev. I am grateful for the support of my colleagues, in particular Sarah Badcock, whose consistent enthusiasm for this project has been warmly appreciated, and Chris Eley, who was similarly enthusiastic and who helped sharpen my Introduction. I remain responsible for any errors or mistranslations.

Pëtr Filippovich Iakubovich