A Parodic Tale in “Sovy” (Soviet Texts) by D. Prigov

Abstract

The article aims to study D. Prigovs series of prose texts Sovy (Soviet texts) artistic subtleties as a conceptualist work. The author of the article analyzes genre and style modifications owing to use of parodic stylization. The research exemplifies how a fairy tale, epic, legend, anecdote, hagiography are modified by the Soviet myth content, whereas creating a quasi-history. Historical characters, politicians, poets and writers, mythologized by ideology and commonplace consciousness in the Sovy, are presented as cultural and progenitor heroes. Life journey of characters, cultivated by the Soviet myth, is often depicted according to the hagiographic canon. The mask of a storyteller/propagandist is the starting point of folklore stylizations and parody imitations of the Soviet art in the Sovy series. Parodic tale was crafted by mimicking folklore and journalistic styles, their hybridization at the lexical-grammatical and rhythmic-syntactic levels. Styles, genres and masks mocking in D. Prigovs Sovy series is examined at the methodological perspective of text narratological analysis for the first time, thus emphasizing the studys novelty and relevance. The author of the article concludes that D. Prigov deconstructs Soviet mythologems, showcasing transformations of a myth to an anecdote, a famous name into an empty sign, a story into a simulacrum.