Article

Name: THE BOOK OF JONAH IN A LITERARY PROCESS: ARTISTIC STRATEGIES

Authors: M. N. Klimova

Research Library, Tomsk State University

In the section

Abstract: For two millennia, the Old Testament Book of Jonah is a part of the world literary process. The article is devoted to an identification of artistic strategies of this biblical fragment that has grown in works of writers of following centuries. The text of the Book consists of two parts – a fabulous «sea» part and a conditionally historical «Nineveh» part. This allows us to see in it blending of two independent plots with a common hero. The strategically significant feature of this literary monument is its unusual semantic capacity. This concise text is rich in wordplay, it full of ambiguous details, characters’ actions in the book are mysterious and may allow for different interpretations. The Book is open-ended, because of that we can only make various conjectures about the further fate of the prophet Jonah. A one more peculiarity of the literary monument is an ambiguity of the title character, which is strange for the prophetic book. In addition, three degrees of generalization are permissible in interpreting of his image: prophet Jonah as concrete personality, prophet Jonah as personification of certain traits of the Peculiar People, and as «man in general». The naive shell of the «old tale of the Prophet and the whale» is filled with profound meaning by means of author’s rethinking of some archaic plots (for example, a story about a journey to the Realm of Death). The «sea» part of the Book left a deep trace in the world culture – one of the first experiences of marine literature, and its main characters – the poet-prophet and the Monster-Marvel Whale. The genealogy and evolution of perception of this mysterious being are outlined, and are more apprehensible for the mythologist, than for the naturalist. As our ecological consciousness develops, the importance of another theme of the Book increases – Creator’s love for His creations. Mentioned strategies have defined the multi-level impact of this literary monument on various literary phenomena – from monuments of medieval hagiography and liturgical poetry to modern «meta-roman», from novella-parable and lyric poem to children's fairy tale and humoresque. Author's observations are illustrated with literary examples. From the Russian writers in that regard are mentioned A. S. Pushkin, N. S. Leskov, A. P. Chekhov, I. A. Bunin, K. I. Chukovsky, Sasha Chorny, M. Uspensky, A. Kim, and other authors.

Keywords: world literature, russian literature, biblical motifs and images, mythological plots, christianity and literature, intertextual relationship

Bibliography:

Aleksandr (Mileant), episkop Buenos-Ayresskiyi Yuzhnoamerikanskiy. Klyuch k Biblii: Istoriyasozdaniya, kratkoesoderzhanie, tolkovanie Sv[yashchennogo] Pisaniya [The key to the Bible: History of creation, summary, interpretation of Holy Scripture]. Moscow, 2005.

Averintsev S. S. Drevneevreyskaya literatura [Hebrew literature]. In: Istoriya vsemirnoy literatury [History of world literature]. Moscow, 1983, vol. 1, pp. 273–302.

Chumakov Yu. N. Akula i Gusev (final chekhovskogo rasskaza) [Shark and Gusev (finale of the Chekhov story)]. In: Poetika finala [Poetics of a finale]. Novosibirsk, 2009, pp. 191–194.

Eydel'kind Ya. K interpretatsii Knigi Iony [To the interpretation of the Book of Jonah]. Bibliya: literaturnye i lingvisticheskie issledovaniya (Vyp. 1) [The Bible: literary and linguistic research (Iss. 1)]. Moscow, 1998, pp. 81–112.

Greyvs R. Mify Drevney Gretsii [Myths of Ancient Greece]. Moscow, 1992.

Klimova M. N. K voprosu o vospriyatii bibleyskoy Knigi Iony [On the question of the perception of the biblical Book of Jonah]. In: Vlast', obshchestvo i chelovek v istoricheskikh i literaturnykh pamyatnikakh XVI–XX vv. [Power, society and man in historical and literary monuments of the XVI–XX centuries]. Novosibirsk, 2012, pp. 3–16.

Klimova M. N. Petukh apostola Petra (o nekotorykh otrazheniyakh evangel'skogo motiva v russkoy literature) [The Rooster of the Apostle Peter (about some reflections of the evangelical motive in Russian literature)]. In: Liricheskie i epicheskie syuzhety i motivy v russkoy literature. Sb. nauch.tr. [Lyrical and epic stories and motives in Russian literature. Collection of scientific papers]. Novosibirsk, 2012, pp. 88–100.

Kniga Iony / Per. E. G. Yuntsa [The Book of Jonah / trl. E. G. Yunts]. In: Mir Biblii [The World of the Bible], 1997, iss. 4, pp. 64–66.

Kniga Iony / per. S. Apta [The Book of Jonah / trl. S. Apt]. In: Poeziya i proza DrevnegoVostoka [Poetry and prose of the Ancient East]. Moscow, 1973, pp. 554–557.

Leviafan [Leviathan]. In: Mify narodov mira : entsiklopediya : v 2 t. (T. 2) [Myths of the World : encyclopedia : in 2 vols. (Vol. 2)]. Moscow, 1994, p. 43.

Nemirovskiy A. I., Skogorev A. P. Mify i legendy narodov mira: Bibleyskie istorii [Myths and legends of the peoples of the world: Biblical stories]. Moscow, 2007.

Orlova N. M. Bibleyskiy tekst kak generator pretsedentnosti: Kniga proroka Iony [Biblical text as a precedent generator: The Book of the Prophet Jonah]. Vestn. Saratovskogo gos. un-ta. Filologiya. Zhurnalistika [Bulletin of the Saratov State University. Philology. Journalism], 2014, vol. 124, no. 3, pp. 5–9.

Tamarchenko N. D. Genezis form sub"ektivnogo povestvovaniya v epicheskom syuzhete (Kniga proroka Iony) [Genesis of forms of subjective narrative in the epic story (The Book of the Prophet Jonah)]. Izv. AN. Seriya literatury i yazyka [Proceedings of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Literature and language series]. 1995, vol. 54, no. 5, pp. 37–49.

Thompson S. The types of the folktale. A classification and bibliography. Antti Aarne’s “Verzeichnis der Märchentypen” (FFC № 3) translated and enlarged. Helsinki, 1964. [Vol.] 3.

Vavilonskaya bashnya i drugie bibleyskie predaniya [The Tower of Babel and other biblical traditions] / pod obshch. red. K. I. Chukovskogo. Moscow, 1991.