The ideological world of the trilogy of the Mari writer N. Lekain «Iron Will», «In the Fire of the Great War», «Land of the Ancestors»

Belyaeva Tatyana Nikolaevna PhD in Philology Associate Professor of the Department of Finno-Ugric and Comparative Philology at Mari State University 424039, Russia, Republic of Mari El, Yoshkar-Ola, Druzhby str., 77, sq. 113 beljaeva1978@rambler.ru Other publications by this author

One of the original prose writers of Mari literature is Nikander Lekain (Yeremeyev Nikander Sergeevich, 1907-1960). Since the mid-1920s, his essay works ("Kalinin Collective Farm", short stories ("Nastya", "Package"), the story "Kandash Vate" ("Eight Wives"), where he raised moral issues, began to be published on the pages of newspapers and magazines. Since 1939, he began working on the genre of the novel. So in 1940 in the almanac "Pialan ilysh" ("Happy life") his first novel, "K?rtn? viy" ("Iron Will"), was published, telling about the events of the Civil War and the NEP period. During the Great Patriotic War, he wrote the novel "Kugu saryn tulyshtyzho" ("In the Fire of the Great War", 1961). The next major work of the writer was the novel "Kugese mlande" ("Land of the Ancestors", 1955), which reflected the influence of Stolypin's agrarian reform on the life of the Mari people on the eve of the October Revolution. These three literary works, united by a common idea, continuity of the plot and characters, made up a trilogy.

The artistic originality of the novel "K?rtn? viy" ("Iron Will")

The title of the first novel is consonant with the title of A. Serafimovich's novel "Iron Stream", which was translated as "Iron Will" by the classic of Mari literature Ya. P. Mayorov-Shketan and published in 1931.

N. Lekain pointed to the natural victory of the revolutionary forces, portrayed the strong will of the creator people, the Mari people in the socialist transformation of the country, the native land. An acute, irreconcilable social conflict is the basis of the novel. Although the October Revolution destroyed the autocratic system, the establishment of Soviet power, the growth of national consciousness took place very slowly, and this against the background of an acute class struggle. The supporters of the old world, against whom the protagonist Echan fought with arms in his hands on the southern front, did not give up. Local merchants, kulaks, maps (pagan priests) continued to live according to "their" laws, alien to ordinary people – they created arbitrariness and lawlessness, hiding behind God: "... Otysh lektyn kumalash k?lesh. Ogyna kumal gyn, tolshash iy adak kinde ok shoch ..." ("It is necessary to perform a prayer service in the grove. If we do not pray, there will be a grain harvest this year") ^{[8, p. 104]}. (Here and further the translation from Mari is ours – T.B.). And they themselves think how to cheat the bread from the poor: ""Volyk shkenan – poyan-vlakyn" – manyn kertyn. Kalyk ?mbach kindym gyn pogen moshtash k?lesh" ("We can say – "Cattle for sacrifice from us, the rich." The main thing is to collect bread from the poor") ^{[8, p. 106]}.

Echan is a collective image of a Mari worker, for whom the love of land and work has been instilled since infancy. The writer was able to truthfully reflect the process of formation and disclosure of a new worldview, to reveal the formation of a revolutionary worldview. The spontaneous inclusion of Echan in the revolutionary movement, the change of his established beliefs, resembles the characters of the novels of the classics of Mari literature: Sakara and Echan ("Elnet" and "Deserter-vlak" = "Deserters" by S. Chavain), Evai P?tyr ("Ere?er" = "Erenger" by M. Shketan), Sergei ("äDyramash korno" = "Women's share" by Shabdar Osyp), Peter Efimov ("Vurs mardezh" = "Steel Wind" by N. Ignatiev), etc. All of them went through a difficult path to communist consciousness: at first they were deeply disappointed in life because of social inequality, then the formation of new beliefs and spiritual transformation of the worldview began in factories and Civil War fronts. The prose writer draws attention to the fact that the workers and workers under the leadership of the Bolshevik party carried out a huge propaganda work aimed at fighting the tsarist autocracy, against the perpetrators of the unjust imperialist war. Gradually, Echan began to understand that only a revolution can bring freedom and justice to the people.

The "iron will" of Alekseev Echan manifests itself first on the southern front, where he was brutally tortured by the White Guards, but miraculously survived. And then, when, after returning to his native side, he becomes an ideological inspirer, an organizer of the rural poor for the construction of socialism; the leader of the class struggle against the kulaks. No difficulties could stop him from achieving his goal. All events in the life of the protagonist are aimed at revealing the formation and formation of self-consciousness of an active citizen of society.

Internal spiritual transformations are reflected in the external description of the hero, whose dynamic portrait is presented by his wife: "Tidee zhapyshte Verush Echanyn toshto godso kap-kylzhym, shrgyvylyshym sharnaltysh. Shinchazhlan toshto Echan koesh: shem-chever t?san, lopka tup-vachan mari. And kyzyt – chylt weight t?c. Sh?rgyvylyshe eshe chotrak shememmyla koesh. Lach arakam podylmyzh dene gyn churije izish puren. Shincha erzhe kakargen shoga, shincha reportage gina tostizh gayak cholga, but izish kelesyryn onchalesh. Tidizhe shuko zhap saryshte koshtmyzhym paldara. Ner yymalnizhe iziyrysh lektyn, kok mogyrysh varaksim shuldyr guy Charlene shoga. Pondashizhe kyzytrak nyzhm? ogyl dokan, shondashla shyrgylak kushkyn. Shola mogyr t?rvyzh? shelyn, tudyn turashte ikmynyar p uke, but tide mutlanash ogesh meshae. Echan toshtyzh gayak veselan mutlana, lach y?ksh? gyn vashtaltyn: k?zhgyrak liyyn; koklan oylymyzh godym rush mutym purten kolta. Tudyn kap-kylzhym, tarvanylmyzhym da shincha onchaltyshyzhym uzhyn, mutlanyzhym kolyn, mogai aideme ulmyzhym broadsword ys? ogyl: tudo saresh shuaraltshe pe?gide Bolshevik!") ("At this time Verush remembered the figure, the face of the young Echan. The old Echan appeared before my eyes: a swarthy and tanned, broad-shouldered man. And now – a completely different view. The face became darker. Only the drunk became like himself. There were circles around the eyes, only a clear look, but a little dissatisfied. It seems that this is a reflection of a long war. He grew a little moustache, spreading out on both sides of his nose like the wings of a swallow. He probably hadn't shaved–his cheeks were covered with stiff stubble. There is a split lip on the left side, several teeth are missing, but this does not prevent him from speaking. Echan, as before, talks a lot, but his voice has changed: he has become rough, sometimes he uses Russian words in conversation. His figure, movement, look, speech testify to who he has become – a war-hardened and convinced Bolshevik!") ^{[8, p. 71]}.

This is a collective image of people from the people who went to war and took an active part in the transformation of their native land. His social antipodes are: the socialist revolutionary and bandit Lazyr Semon, a deserter and a White Guard during the war, and then a leader of the Pagul party. The strong side of the narrative is in exposing them and the rural rich. One of the colorful figures among them is the ardent exploiter Soprom Yeprem. Greedy and bloodthirsty are the fists of Ondri Yapyk, Atbash V?dyr, the elder Lazyr. For them, deception is only a means to enrich themselves. The writer gradually reveals their counter-revolutionary role at various stages of the proletarian revolution and in the early years of Soviet power. The incompatibility of the interests of the poor peasantry and the exploiting class, striving to preserve the former system at any cost, soon turned into a fierce hatred of the Communists: they began to spread ridiculous rumors, incited the population against them, called for an uprising, and plotted to cause injury. But contrary to their wishes, along with overcoming economic difficulties (crop failure, famine), the authority and influence of the Bolshevik Communists grew massively. Echan procured grain for sowing in the executive committee, proposed to create a cooperative, open an educational center and a hut-reading room. Lekain shows the difficult way of restructuring the life of the rural population: liberation from old habits, learning to read and write. It is very symbolic, for example, the removal of the "sharpan" (female headdress of a cone–shaped shape) - the liberation of women from social and centuries-old domestic oppression.

The novel has a well-thought-out chapter about the famine of 1921, about the birth of communes; the transition from patriarchal to new relationships. According to the writer, it was the indestructible iron will of the working people and the working proletariat who rallied together that was able to destroy the outdated system, win the Civil War and establish Soviet power, including in the Mari Territory.

The compositional structure of the chapters has its own logic: each of them reveals the life and work of the people; the anti-national activity of the kulaks; their moral decay and fall. Chapters 8-12 are the most climactic: they tell about the active activities of the rural rich against the communists. In the following chapters, it is shown how the life of the peasants gradually enters a new channel, how old prejudices and foundations are being eliminated. In 1927, Echan, his associates (selkor Vachiy Vachai, cadet of the art school Sergey) and fellow villagers managed to win the fight against class enemies.

The secondary characters, to whom the writer shows sincere sympathy, are memorable: Verush is the wife of the main character, Mukhamat is a Tatar watchman, Michi is a poor peasant with a complicated fate. The narrative of the novel is eventful, so some of the characters are poorly individualized, represented by socio-historical types.

The plot basis, time limits (pre-revolutionary years, civil war, NEP) of N. Lekain's novel are similar to one of the first novels of Yakut literature "Springtime" by N. Mordinov, which also tells "about the formation of Soviet power in Yakutia, about the formation of the character of a new person, about the introduction of the people slaughtered in the past to a conscious active life" ^[10].

In general, there is a certain understatement in the novel "Iron Will". The writer was still returning to an already published novel. The final part of the work, which remained in the manuscript, was published with editorial edits after his death. 

The heroic pathos of the novel "Kugu saryn tulyshtyzho" ("In the fire of the Great War")

In 1948, two books of N. Lekain's next novel "Kugu saryn tulyshtyzho" ("In the Fire of the Great War") were published. A former front-line soldier who went through a harsh war and realized the price of life, relying on real human destinies, with genuine drama, deep vitality, fascinating authenticity revealed the heroism of the partisan movement behind enemy lines. Narrating about the invisible front, about the merits of Soviet soldiers before the Motherland, the writer creates a generalized image of the victorious people, praises their moral greatness, courage and steadfastness, patriotism, loyalty to the motherland.

The main character of the novel, Gennady Alekseev, is the son of Echan from Iron Will. This novel by the writer has already continued the artistic idea of the previous one on a new life material. The writer combined the heroes of different nationalities into one plot outline to show their unity, friendship, and a united spirit in the fight against the Fascist invaders. Alekseev, like Lashmanov, Shubin, heroically defended the freedom and independence of their native country. The patriotic feelings of young Gennady, yesterday's graduate of the Forestry Institute, are revealed in a conversation by a fellow countryman whom he met at one of the junction stations:

"– Tighter than Yoshkar-Ola gych vik tyshke logalynat? – Vachi Vachai yodo.

– Vic, – manesh Alekseev. – Achamyt shinchenat ogytyl. Alatyr gych letters koltenam yle, vashmutym nalyn shym gukto. Ochyn, ynde tolyn shuyn. Ochyn, the postman kychkyralyn: “To Alekseyev Gennady Alexandrovich!” And my uke ulam… Ynde kunam nalin shuktem, ala?.. But nimat ogyl, – mane vara tudo" ^{[9, p. 5]}.

("So you came here straight from Yoshkar-Ola? Vachi Vachai asked.

–Straight,– Alekseyev replies. Parents don't even know. I sent a letter from Alatyr – I didn't get an answer. Probably already got it. The postman must have shouted: “To Alekseyev Gennady Alexandrovich!” And I'm not… Now when will I get it?.. But nothing," he added"). His words say that for him, as for all Soviet people, there is nothing more expensive and more important than protecting the Motherland.

The novel depicts the events of the most difficult period of the Great Patriotic War – the retreat of the Soviet Army. Only on the last pages does the writer draw the beginning of its successful offensive. The writer was able to reveal the inexhaustible energy and unyielding will to win, the origin and development of the guerrilla movement (from Chapter XII), the resistance of the civilian population to the invaders. The image of the fighting is the background of the disclosure of the destinies of the heroes (Alekseev, Anya, Viktor Sosnovsky, Zharov and others) of the work in the harsh years. The generalizing image of a struggling and resisting humanist people is vividly manifested in mass scenes.

N. Lekain emphasizes the special role of the party in organizing the partisan movement. The party organizer of the Voskhod collective farm, Ivan Matveyevich Zuev, the chairman of the collective farm, Yakov Mikhailovich Nazarchenko, the ordinary communist Trofim Ivanovich Markov, in the very first days of the fascist occupation, take collective farmers into the forest, looking for connections with other partisan formations. Together with the detachment of grandfather Evsey, they conduct complex operations against enemies.

The accumulated hatred of the occupiers is eloquently revealed in the scene of the execution of the Red Army soldiers at the club in front of the residents of the village of Sosnovka. The people watched in silence. The writer reveals the essence of his character in terse laconic phrases: a firm intention to take revenge, inner composure. The men clenched their fists in determination to fight the enemy to victory. Then the angry people turn to action – they set fire to the house of the traitor Prygunov. Lekain draws attention to the spiritual squalor, lack of a sense of human dignity of traitors (Timka Prygunov, his father, Ion Ryzhenkov, Warts, volost foreman Joakimovich): they give out the best people of the village, commit murders and robberies.

The most disgusting features of the fascists are embodied in the image of special forces officer Hans Miller. He commits murders without regret, burns villages, plunders people. His portrait description is an eloquent testimony to the character of the murderer: "Nemychyn kapshe k?ksh?, vara guy vichkizh. Sh?rgyvylyshyzhe ka?ga, T?sdym?. Nerzhe kuzhu, kadyrgen shoga, tudyn muchashizhe vichkizhe. He also wears horn-rimmed glasses. Kunam tudo ochkizhym nalesh, tunam ner lukysh yoshtekin volysho shinchage ir s?sna shincham usheshtara, and kunam ochkizhym mgesh pizhykta, tunam chyve numalshe tumnala koesh. Tudyn o?ylashyzhat nerzhylan kelshysh, koshargen shoga. And kuzhu da koshar o?ylashan trubkazym k?senzhe gych luktyn purlesh gyn, chyla kap-kylzhym ikteshlen, a?ysyryn onchykta. Tudyn chiemzhe – french den brukyzho – mogyreshizhe pyzhyn shoga. Tidee e?yn, ochyn, ilyshyzhat a?ysyr da shygyr. Sadlanak dyr tudo shyde. Ailemiz godim Purim isikan shinda, the Shwe Pyi kokla GUC svili ar of semen Shiga" ^{[9, p. 76]} ("German tall and thin, like a pole. The face is thin, colorless. The nose is long, with a hump, with a pointed end. He wears white horn-rimmed glasses. When he takes off his glasses, then his eyes, which have shifted obliquely to his nose, resemble the eyes of a wild pig, and with glasses he looks like an owl dragging chickens. His adam's apple is proportional to his nose. And when, taking out of his pocket, he lights a long, pointed pipe, the body seems withered. His clothes – a jacket and trousers– stick to his body. He obviously has a narrow, narrow life. That's why he's evil. When he speaks, he clenches his teeth and saliva splashes through them, like it's drizzling"). The author's comments on the portrait lead to the idea that a person with such an appearance cannot be kind. It should be mentioned that another author's tendency is manifested in N. Lekain's portrait descriptions: most of the negative characters of the work have an unpleasant appearance and vice versa.

The journalistic nature inherent in both novels manifested itself in the description of events, characterization of the characters (natives of the Mari region, Smolensk land), in the style of narration. And the second novel reveals the best features of the national character, manifested in the fight against fascism.

The novelist planned to continue the epic narrative about folk heroes. "At the same time, the novelist gave a national flavor even to such phenomena of life that cannot have it. So in his book, Russian peasants, residents of the Smolensk region, sing Mari songs, tell ancient Mari fairy tales, Mari proverbs and sayings are often heard in their speech. These are already the costs of the work" – noted in the "History of Mari Literature" edited by K. K. Vasin and A. A. Vasinkin ^{[5, p. 312]}.

Such images of real heroes of the Great Patriotic War are drawn in the novels of B. N. Polevoy "The Story of a real Man" ^[13], M. A. Sholokhov "They fought for the motherland" ^[15], B. L. Vasiliev "Was not on the lists" ^[1], etc. The pages of the novels, like direct reports, tell about the horrors of war, heroism and betrayal, love and death. Writers with pain in their hearts scrolled through the bloody memories of memory and reproduced them as diary entries. 

The Mari literature of those years, like many national literatures, reflected the strong and brave spirit of a mighty people who withstood the onslaught of the enemy, and most importantly managed to win no matter what. Fiction about the war is associated with the names of many other Mari writers: the story of Dm. Oraya "Cholga sh?dyr" ("The Unfading Star") ^[2], V. Ivanov's novel "T?tan" ("The Storm") ^[3], etc. In their works, the great and small events of the war, the heroism of the partisans, the feat of the rear receive artistic interpretation.

The ideological world of the novel "Kugese mlande" ("Land of the ancestors")

The theme of the awakening of class consciousness in the pre-revolutionary years is reflected in N. Lekain's third novel "Kugese mlande" ("Land of the Ancestors", 1955-1960). This is another multifaceted, acutely conflicted work of the writer about the heavy share of the Mari people under tsarism. The writer managed to create truthful pictures of social matchmaking, truly folk characters. The central problem (apart from the class conflict) that opens the work is the struggle of the Mari peasants for social liberation, for land on the Shalinsky hill between the peasants of neighboring villages – Kozheryala, Lap–Soly - and farmers. Moreover, for some (like, for example, for the main character Echan), this dispute turns into a personal tragedy. The Stolypin reform inspired the destitute village farmhand, orphan and adopted Echan with hope for a better life: he dreamed of acquiring land and farming. But the rural rich cruelly deceived another "sitmyzh" (literally means "rootless"): they gave him the worst land at a deep ravine in the lowlands. The spring flood washed away half of the strip and destroyed part of the crop. So the obedience instilled in him from childhood by his adoptive father turned into anger, and then into rebellion. But such aggression did not lead to good: the local authorities began to persecute him. Hoping to escape, Echan goes to Kazan, gets a job at a factory.

The working environment awakened in him a class consciousness, a sense of self-worth. It is also a collective image of a peasant, for whom the land is both a breadwinner and a means of enrichment. The main character has highly moral principles (always stands on the side of the oppressed and disadvantaged), outstanding mental abilities (he, as they say, "does not burn in fire and does not drown in water"). The image of Echan is both idealized and romanticized. N. Lekain's artistic idealization acts as one of the generalization techniques and evidence of the approval of the writer's realistic method (all his actions are subordinated to the logic of the real course of events).

The role of another character (his antipode), a nosy neighbor of Soprom Yeprem, whose greed knows no bounds, in revealing the image of the main character. The writer makes it clear: what could Echan be like if he did not stop his private property aspirations in time. But it should be noted that the Eprem Coprom does not fit into the traditional image of a fist. There is no deliberate importance, sedateness, external good looks in it. Often he pretends to be a simple man from the people, does not fool around in front of fellow villagers. But behind this prudent appearance hides true predatory vices (interested only in money, cruelly oppresses the poor, any manifestation of sympathy is alien to him). His apparent simplicity misled not only the neighbors, but also the wealthy "owners of the village". One day, Yeprem appeared in a torn caftan, in dirty bast shoes at a forest auction. But, to the great surprise of all those present, he was the only one who offered the highest bid (unwinding the old footcloths, took out a pack of gold coins)

This juxtaposition of characters contributes to the disclosure of the mentality of the Mari peasantry, characterized by diligence, respect and reverence for the elderly (adults), which ultimately generates obedience. People who have fallen out of this social class become kulaks, merchants (the arrogant Atbash Vedyr), village elders (the cunning Lazyr). Mari cards (the literal translation is pagan "priest", for example, Ondri Yapyk).

The writer himself is a native of the peasantry, therefore, with great sympathy, he draws images of ordinary peasants – Stapan Yivan, Korem Kstynchi, Peter Maxi, going in different ways to understand social truth. These characters and their (sometimes even thoughtless and contradictory) actions reflect the historically difficult life of the Mari peasantry. In the description of their fate, the writer's unabated anxiety for the future of the people is "heard". N. Lekain also managed to reliably depict the hidden, hidden dream of a hardworking people about a happy future, to reveal centuries-old moral and spiritual values. In this context, the title of the work is also symbolic. The artistic image of the earth is a source of sustenance for hundreds of generations (like bread), it is also the land of the ancestors–workers (national traditions, the foundations of everyday life), it is also a poetic image of peasant labor. Respect for the earth gives the novel the features of a deep nationality. Myths, beliefs, rituals and customs, generated by the centuries-old labor experience of the plowman, brought national coloring, creative identity to the novel, revealed the unique features of village life.

Lyrical descriptions of traditional pagan holidays (agavayrem, surrem, matchmaking and wedding) are organically included in the plot, the parties of village youth are poetically outlined.

Another important visual means of emotional experiences of the heroes was the genre of folk song. According to the writer's original plan, the novel "The Bold Song" (1954), created in parallel with the novel, was to become the final part of the work. In it, telling about the life of boatmen on the Volga, the image of a folk singer-guslar appears, and the Russian revolutionary song "Hostile Whirlwinds ..." is a symbol of the unity of Mari peasants and workers. It should be noted that the reliance on folk poetic traditions (folk wisdom) is characteristic of many of the prose writer's works.

Two images are invisibly present in the novel: the narrator is a contemporary, the narrator is a historian. The first is a kind of narrator of events close to the people, to their worldview, the second interprets historical events as a contemporary.

The spatial limits of the plot action are outlined by the boundaries of the Mari village of Kozheryal, the city of Kazan and episodic events on the fronts of the First World War. His heroes are interested and worried about everything that the Russian state lives on the eve of the great historical revolution – the Great October Socialist Revolution. Friends and associates of Echan in the socio-political struggle are Tatar Gabdulla, Russian Shadrin and blacksmith Zorin, who played an important role in the formation of the hero's political beliefs. It all started with the fact that the kozheryals invited Zorin to the newly built forge, unaware of his connection with the revolutionary-minded workers. It was there that he read leaflets to the villagers, so the "political maturation" of the main character took place.

A distinctive feature of the novel "Land of the Ancestors" is the interpenetration of the epic, poetic and dramatic, the display of social contradictions, which is characteristic of many novels of the literature of the peoples of Russia: "Wide Moksha" by the Mordovian writer T. Kirdyashkin ^[6], "Scarlet Ribbon" by the Komi prose writer V. Yukhnin ^[16], "Black Bread" by the Chuvash writer N. Ilbek ^[4]. For example, T. Kirdyashkin's novel "Wide Moksha" (1953) also recreates "events reflecting the struggle of the Mordovian people for social and national liberation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries" ^{[12, p. 3]}. In the third novel, N. Lekain departs from the previous compositional and stylistic manner: "the author's remarks and lyrical digressions of a journalistic nature are reduced to a minimum" ^{[12, p. 261]}. In addition, psychologism increases in the disclosure of the characters of the characters, which generally indicates the increased skill of the writer.

Conclusions

Relying on the artistic traditions (themes, problems) of writers of fraternal peoples, N. Lekain achieved success in writing a multifaceted work. The author's idea of the first novel "Iron Will" did not involve the creation of a trilogy – this idea arose in the process of creative work. And shortly before his death (until 1960), he began to think about further expanding the scale and scope of his narrative. He had already collected material for the novels "Mari Autonomous Region" and "Vachiy Vachay", "with which he intended to complete his work on a cycle of narratives about the national, spiritual revival of his native people" ^{[12, p. 316]}.

Nikander Lekain is the first People's writer of the MASSR, a truly exemplary artist who was in a relentless search for new ways to implement creative ideas, vividly responding to topical issues of his contemporary era.

The historical events of the late XIX – mid XX century, depicted in his trilogy, tell about the formation and development of the Mari region, the nationality, the heroic struggle against the Fascist occupiers during the Great Patriotic War.

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