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Crime and Violence in the Mode of Absurdity: The Importance of Sherlock Holmes in the Works of Daniil Kharms

Fortney, Thaddeus William

Abstract Details

2006, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Slavic and East European Studies.
Daniil Kharms was one of the last members of the early Russian avant-garde of the 1920s and 1930s. He was prolific in several genres, but is perhaps best known for his children’s poetry and two late works; the Sluchai cycle and the short story, Starukha (Incidences and The Old Woman respectively). Scholars have noted that the thirty pieces that compose Sluchai seem unrelated and because of this, the normal thematic and stylistic links that warrant interpretation of a piece as a cycle are difficult to identify. It is my contention that there exists a possible link between the events of Sluchai and Sherlock Holmes that could classify the text as a cycle, and possibly offer a new interpretation of the work. This analysis suggests that Sluchai can be read as a Holmesian view of Soviet Russia in the 1930s, and posits that importance of Sherlock Holmes to the work of Daniil Kharms is worthy of further research. Though scholarship has noted that Kharms would often dress up as Holmes, it has yet to suggest any further significance between the English detective and Kharms. Considering the history of zhiznetvorchestvo or life-creation and its lineage in the Symbolist and Futurist tradition, it stands to reason that acting as Holmes was not merely and absurdist stunt, but perhaps the inclusion of an aesthetic motif. The Symbolists and Futurist often used their vestiary theatrics as a means to include another realm of life into art, or vice versa. Perhaps Kharms was following similar aesthetic philosophies in his choice to don the famous deer-stalker and pipe, but this does not yet offer any insight into his literature. Using the world of Sherlock Holmes as a reference point will reveal that the events of Sluchai are perhaps not so disconnected or absurd. Considering the social climate of Russia in the 1930s, there was a need for a detective to expose the secret injustices of the Soviet government. Kharms’s choice to become a widely recognized symbol of justice reveals his attempt to defy the government and protect the Russian people. In Sluchai, it is necessary to investigate as a detective each piece to gain a certain level of understanding, and this offers a united motif that would suggest the collection is a cycle. Along with this, the results of the investigation often expose the atrocities carried out by the Soviet government under Stalin again uniting the pieces to some degree. Sluchai proves that Sherlock Holmes was not just a marginal influence in the work of Daniil Kharms, and that other works could benefit from a Holmesian interpretation.
Irene Masing-Delic (Advisor)
Alexander Burry (Committee Member)
Yana Hashamova (Committee Member)
50 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Fortney, T. W. (2006). Crime and Violence in the Mode of Absurdity: The Importance of Sherlock Holmes in the Works of Daniil Kharms [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1396271883

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Fortney, Thaddeus. Crime and Violence in the Mode of Absurdity: The Importance of Sherlock Holmes in the Works of Daniil Kharms. 2006. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1396271883.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Fortney, Thaddeus. "Crime and Violence in the Mode of Absurdity: The Importance of Sherlock Holmes in the Works of Daniil Kharms." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2006. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1396271883

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)