The Degayevism in N. Svechin’s novel “Fatal Numbers”

Abstract

Nikolai Svechin’s retro-detective novels are known to be accurate in his reproduction of the spirit and way of life of the depicted historical period. Readers tend to believe in what the writer has written about the history. This article examines the depiction in the novel “Fatal Numbers” of the phenomenon of the so-called “Degaevism” in the history of the late Russian Empire. The text of the novel is compared with documentary materials about the provocative activities of S. P. Degaev and G. P. Sudeikin. The author of this article claims that Degaev’s monologue is a retelling text based on the text of L. A. Tikhomirov’s memoirs. There are abundant correspondences between the Degaev’s monologue with Tikhomirov’s memoirs. At the same time, it was revealed that the image of the provocateur has been simplified: Degaev’s is portrayed as a psychologically simple, self-serving villain. The image of Sudeikin is also different from his prototype. If Sudeikin in history was an egoist and had no ideological convictions, then Sudeikin the character is a supporter of liberal reforms. This discrepancy between the novel and history is explained by the fact that the protector of Sudeikin, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexan drovich, in Svechin’s view, was a liberal. Constructing an adventure plot, the writer does not change the outcomes of real events, but only speculates on some points that remained to be blank spots in history. On the one hand, Svechin is dedicated to guarantee the plausibility; on the other hand, the simplicity. The writer does not analyze in-depth the personality of figure, and introduces logic and consistency into history, destroying all the ambiguities.