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Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol
Historically, Kafka has been my no. 1 weird lil boy, but in regards to actual real history, it was Gogol.
Gogol did absurdism and magical realism first, and he used them to satirize (and portray in an emotionally real way) institutional structures. Gogol paved the way for Kafka, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Nabokov, etc etc etc. Very cool guy. Genius, probably. Also he was Ukrainian!
But Taras Bulba isn’t like anything else he’s written. It’s not a satire (although… it’s not that far off imo), and it’s not absurdism, and it’s not a critique on Russian feudalism and beaurocracy: Taras Bulba is a historical epic on level with Homer’s Odyssey, exploring the passion, cruelty, exploits, contexts, lives, and loves of Ukrainian Cossacks in the 16th century.
So I didn’t know my family was Cossacks… both sides, actually. I saw a lot of familiar last names in the book, so frankly, I think a lot of those I’ve grown up with were also Cossacks. I also didn’t really understand the depth of historical context between Ukrainians and Jewish folk (beyond the well explored WWII Nazi v USSR).
The introduction to this translation, by Peter Konstantin, HIT. Not only did it set the scene, but he provided historical and cultural observations that are essentially timeless: written soon post-911, he comments on the unstable sovereignty of the independent Ukrainian state (oops still true) and the brutal violence and instability in the Middle East (oops still true). He takes Gogol’s writing on the dangers of unimpeded persecution and the passion it produces and applies it to further real world, seemingly never-ending, situations.
Also to note, Gogol was deeply connected to his Ukrainian heritage, a commitment he inherited from his dad. The initial final copy of TB was set in Ukraine and a Cossack brotherhood that was fighting for Ukraine. This copy is set in Russia and on the fight for Russian Orthodoxy. Pro mother Russia and all that jazz. For historical context, many Ukrainian artists were able to publish writing or lyrics in Ukrainian as this was considered a “lesser” language and was straight up banned in its use on and off for centuries. So my guess is that this change which centers Russia wasn’t his choice, but who knows.
The Cossacks were a nomadic people in Ukraine centuries ago who were extremely adept at physical fighting, war strategy, and horsemanship. They were eventually recruited as a sort of accessory army to Russia given these strengths.
The Cossacks were brutal. Being a poetic epic, Gogol highlights this beautifully: Taras would rather his sons die than not experience the slaughter of a heathen; no one’s life is above slaughter for their cause; the brutal slaughter of Poles, Tatars, and oh my god, Jews that literally aren’t doing anything at all. They go out of their ways looking for violence. They encourage violence, celebrate it, sing songs about it, beat their wives (if they have them at all), drink to noncoherence, etc. The bloody gore in this story is not in short supply.
Gogol connects this violence to the context. In the plains and steppes of Ukraine, where natural borders offering protection are nonexistent, where the boundaries and borders that do exist are imaginary lines in the wheat, where enemies and persecutors reside on all sides of that boundary, constantly hankering for power and agricultural strength and conquership; where identity is constantly threatened and subjugated, it blossoms, or rather, explodes. A state of constant defense breeds passion and cruelty and nationalism. The Cossacks know no peace; not enough to even seek it out. Thus their brutality is less of a criticism in itself, rather a direct symptom of the geography and territorial colonial climate (oops still true).
They are bound by brotherhood, a seemingly unbreakable bond born of these pressures. The men lay their lives down for the brothers, their identities, their God.
Something I found somewhat uncomfortable was the degree of celebration that Cossacks sometimes seem to receive by the Ukrainian diaspora to this day. TB was an incredible, famous story, and according to my dad, its cinematic debut in the 70s was pretty much the very first time he had seen Ukraine in pop culture. It’s a heroic epic, again, and obviously and rightfully celebrated for its significance and the Cossack’s sacrifices. But again, they are incredibly brutal and cruel. Because of something someone heard, the Cossacks and the Sich murdered and threw all the nearby Jews in the river at a moments notice. Taras murdered his own son. And at camp, I learned silly little songs about the Cossacky at their Sich with their chaikas and their sharovary. Those are my ancestors and they were necessary to who I am and what Ukraine is today, and again, they were cruel and brutal for distinct and obvious reasons that were out of their control; but celebration causes me a wiggle in my tummy.
All that especially as this story can be interpreted in the vein of a cautionary tale… passion to this degree, cultivated by oppression, and propelled forward by perpetual cruelty, wins, and losses, the iron-clad sense of identity that comes with it, should not be aspirational and should be avoided. ESPECIALLY, as Konstantin notes, when the modern Western approach to conflict and peacekeeping is so logical, so level, so emotionless: since when can you reason with passion?
I don’t want to discuss Ukraine today. With the dwindling western support in the face of genocide and destruction across the country, contemplating passion feels fruitless.
Before this next part, note that I am Ukrainian and not Palestinian, Israeli, or Jewish. The topic above is personally sensitive for me, and I appreciate that the topic below is personally sensitive to many. I appreciate that the sentiment I just shared about Ukraine can also be applied to this one.
Today in Gaza, amongst the countless life-diminishing decisions made by Netanyahu, he has specifically (and his predecessors) cultivated an environment where Palestinians simply must cling to their identities in the face of constant, surrounding, overpowering persecution. If we apply Gogol’s reflections, it’s natural that passion and cruelty would surface. This is not a justification for Hamas’s actions, rather, an explanation for the origin. Given that this has certainly not been a one-sided conflict for all of history, I wonder if Netanyahu’s nature can be explained this way as well.
What happens when you chase a cat into a corner?
My biggest takeaway is that humans as a civilization never change. And sometimes, regions, belief systems, patterns of oppression, and violence never change either.
—————
One more note re: Jews and anti Semitism. Holy god is the writing in this book antisemitic. Copious writing on the “craftiness” of those “devils” and how actually “the Devil couldn’t decipher their gibberish [meaning, their language]”, their utter fixation on gold ducats to all ends, their exploitativeness, it goes on and on. It was fairly shocking to read. Of the times I guess (see all the above), but holy fuck. Again, some things maybe never die.
#entertainment
source
Historically, Kafka has been my no. 1 weird lil boy, but in regards to actual real history, it was Gogol.
Gogol did absurdism and magical realism first, and he used them to satirize (and portray in an emotionally real way) institutional structures. Gogol paved the way for Kafka, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Nabokov, etc etc etc. Very cool guy. Genius, probably. Also he was Ukrainian!
But Taras Bulba isn’t like anything else he’s written. It’s not a satire (although… it’s not that far off imo), and it’s not absurdism, and it’s not a critique on Russian feudalism and beaurocracy: Taras Bulba is a historical epic on level with Homer’s Odyssey, exploring the passion, cruelty, exploits, contexts, lives, and loves of Ukrainian Cossacks in the 16th century.
So I didn’t know my family was Cossacks… both sides, actually. I saw a lot of familiar last names in the book, so frankly, I think a lot of those I’ve grown up with were also Cossacks. I also didn’t really understand the depth of historical context between Ukrainians and Jewish folk (beyond the well explored WWII Nazi v USSR).
The introduction to this translation, by Peter Konstantin, HIT. Not only did it set the scene, but he provided historical and cultural observations that are essentially timeless: written soon post-911, he comments on the unstable sovereignty of the independent Ukrainian state (oops still true) and the brutal violence and instability in the Middle East (oops still true). He takes Gogol’s writing on the dangers of unimpeded persecution and the passion it produces and applies it to further real world, seemingly never-ending, situations.
Also to note, Gogol was deeply connected to his Ukrainian heritage, a commitment he inherited from his dad. The initial final copy of TB was set in Ukraine and a Cossack brotherhood that was fighting for Ukraine. This copy is set in Russia and on the fight for Russian Orthodoxy. Pro mother Russia and all that jazz. For historical context, many Ukrainian artists were able to publish writing or lyrics in Ukrainian as this was considered a “lesser” language and was straight up banned in its use on and off for centuries. So my guess is that this change which centers Russia wasn’t his choice, but who knows.
The Cossacks were a nomadic people in Ukraine centuries ago who were extremely adept at physical fighting, war strategy, and horsemanship. They were eventually recruited as a sort of accessory army to Russia given these strengths.
The Cossacks were brutal. Being a poetic epic, Gogol highlights this beautifully: Taras would rather his sons die than not experience the slaughter of a heathen; no one’s life is above slaughter for their cause; the brutal slaughter of Poles, Tatars, and oh my god, Jews that literally aren’t doing anything at all. They go out of their ways looking for violence. They encourage violence, celebrate it, sing songs about it, beat their wives (if they have them at all), drink to noncoherence, etc. The bloody gore in this story is not in short supply.
Gogol connects this violence to the context. In the plains and steppes of Ukraine, where natural borders offering protection are nonexistent, where the boundaries and borders that do exist are imaginary lines in the wheat, where enemies and persecutors reside on all sides of that boundary, constantly hankering for power and agricultural strength and conquership; where identity is constantly threatened and subjugated, it blossoms, or rather, explodes. A state of constant defense breeds passion and cruelty and nationalism. The Cossacks know no peace; not enough to even seek it out. Thus their brutality is less of a criticism in itself, rather a direct symptom of the geography and territorial colonial climate (oops still true).
They are bound by brotherhood, a seemingly unbreakable bond born of these pressures. The men lay their lives down for the brothers, their identities, their God.
Something I found somewhat uncomfortable was the degree of celebration that Cossacks sometimes seem to receive by the Ukrainian diaspora to this day. TB was an incredible, famous story, and according to my dad, its cinematic debut in the 70s was pretty much the very first time he had seen Ukraine in pop culture. It’s a heroic epic, again, and obviously and rightfully celebrated for its significance and the Cossack’s sacrifices. But again, they are incredibly brutal and cruel. Because of something someone heard, the Cossacks and the Sich murdered and threw all the nearby Jews in the river at a moments notice. Taras murdered his own son. And at camp, I learned silly little songs about the Cossacky at their Sich with their chaikas and their sharovary. Those are my ancestors and they were necessary to who I am and what Ukraine is today, and again, they were cruel and brutal for distinct and obvious reasons that were out of their control; but celebration causes me a wiggle in my tummy.
All that especially as this story can be interpreted in the vein of a cautionary tale… passion to this degree, cultivated by oppression, and propelled forward by perpetual cruelty, wins, and losses, the iron-clad sense of identity that comes with it, should not be aspirational and should be avoided. ESPECIALLY, as Konstantin notes, when the modern Western approach to conflict and peacekeeping is so logical, so level, so emotionless: since when can you reason with passion?
I don’t want to discuss Ukraine today. With the dwindling western support in the face of genocide and destruction across the country, contemplating passion feels fruitless.
Before this next part, note that I am Ukrainian and not Palestinian, Israeli, or Jewish. The topic above is personally sensitive for me, and I appreciate that the topic below is personally sensitive to many. I appreciate that the sentiment I just shared about Ukraine can also be applied to this one.
Today in Gaza, amongst the countless life-diminishing decisions made by Netanyahu, he has specifically (and his predecessors) cultivated an environment where Palestinians simply must cling to their identities in the face of constant, surrounding, overpowering persecution. If we apply Gogol’s reflections, it’s natural that passion and cruelty would surface. This is not a justification for Hamas’s actions, rather, an explanation for the origin. Given that this has certainly not been a one-sided conflict for all of history, I wonder if Netanyahu’s nature can be explained this way as well.
What happens when you chase a cat into a corner?
My biggest takeaway is that humans as a civilization never change. And sometimes, regions, belief systems, patterns of oppression, and violence never change either.
—————
One more note re: Jews and anti Semitism. Holy god is the writing in this book antisemitic. Copious writing on the “craftiness” of those “devils” and how actually “the Devil couldn’t decipher their gibberish [meaning, their language]”, their utter fixation on gold ducats to all ends, their exploitativeness, it goes on and on. It was fairly shocking to read. Of the times I guess (see all the above), but holy fuck. Again, some things maybe never die.
#entertainment
source
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