Two different approaches to interpreting The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin: Vladimir M. Markovich and Wolf Schmid

Abstract

The article deals with the comparison of two approaches — by Vladimir M. Markovich and by Wolf Schmid — to the study of The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin. The comparison is based on the following criteria: (1) a dynamic examination (Markovich) vs. a static examination (Schmid); (2) conceptualization: reader vs. author. Within the interpretation proposed by Markovich, the generation of meaning is consistently transferred to the reader (the “ideal reader” capable of recognizing pretexts). In Schmid’s model, the generation of meaning ultimately falls within the competence of the “abstract author”; (3) Markovich searches for the meaning of a literary work in the dynamic of the “syuzhet” carried out on the “surface of the text”. Schmid searches for the meaning of a literary work in the “story” (“Geschichte”) hidden behind the text; (4) The attitude in respect to “innovation” or “traditionality” of the proposed readings. Since Schmid believes that the “history” contained in the text is not only (and not so much) manifested in the “overlying” stages of narrative transformations, but is deliberately obscured by the techniques used at these levels, accordingly, he tends to try to “discover” some sense, hitherto hidden; hence — the desire for interpretations as unexpected as possible. Against this background, it may seem that Markovich, following the semantic twists of Pushkin’s plot, does not discover something stunningly new; however, the feeling of a “normal state of things” arises in this case not from the lack of novelty, but from the adequacy of the proposed reading and the interpreted text; (5) Two different concepts of “life-likeness”. For Schmid, an integral part of life-likeness is the coherence of the concept of characters and clear psychological motives behind the actions. For Markovich, “life-like” is a limitation of our knowledge. He emphasizes that our ability to guess what is happening to the souls of Pushkin’s heroes is almost identical to the real limits of our ability to understand “real-existing living people”. In addition, the comparison of Markovich vs. Schmid is analysed considering the general situation in literary criticism in Russia of the late 1980s–2000s.