Towards a poetics of the lower body (Faina Ranevskaya’s literary heritage)

Abstract

Faina Ranevskaya (1896–1984) was a famous Russian comedic and dramatic actress, many of whose utterances eventually became aphorisms. The article, based on documentary sources, analyzes the peculiarities of Faina Ranevskaya’s speech, in particular, her penchant for obscene vocabulary (names of the lower body, scatological themes). A large amount of illustrative material is provided. These are dialogical remarks spoken in a theatrical environment (often as a kind of defensive reaction), statements containing a misanthropic assessment of the surrounding reality (recorded in Ranevskaya’s surviving letters and notes), critical reflections regarding her own life and work, etc. The obscene language used here boils down to a few main themes. In particular, the public use of the Russian word zhopa (ʽassʼ) is discussed. Facts are used as a background to discuss attitudes towards this topic in Russian society of the 19th–20th centuries. In addition to a desire to shock others, the reason for such speech behavior may have been age, health, dissatisfaction with personal life, psychological feeling of inferiority, attitude towards a rigid (artificial) literary norm and other social circumstances, etc. The attitude of the actress towards her contemporaries, primarily her theater colleagues (Yu. A. Zavadsky, I. A. Pyryev, N. P. Okhlopkov, V. P. Maretskaya, P. L. Wulf and other), is characterized. An attempt to describe a complex personality psychotype is made. For this purpose, an excursion into the field of practical psychiatry is undertaken. The conclusion lets us admit the possibility of dissociative identity disorder syndrome, which is reflected in speech.