쉐드린의 풍자기법 : 「어느 도시의 역사」

Shchedrin s satire skills in The history of a town

This article is intended to analyze the techniques of satire applied to <The History of a Town> by Saltykov-Shchedrin. In this work, Saltykov-Shchedrin attacks despotism of the 19th century Russia by mocking 22 rulers of the city called the town of fools. Not only the rulers but the townspeople are derided in that they consider the autocratic rules of the mayors as their destiny. The satirist uses the technique of reduction to make attack and humor effective in his satire. For this purpose, Saltykov-Shchedrin applies denigrating devices to description of major figures in the work. According to Draitser, denigrating devices can be classified as three types. The first is the device of infantilization. In satire, childishness is in most cases an indirect reference to mental immaturity, for insufficient intellectual development. The innuendo that the intellectual level among Glupovian rulers is no higher than that of primary school children is already made in the introduction to The History of a Town. Significantly, one of the exercises is illustrated with pictures like a child s textbook. We also read about the doodles scattered throughout the chronicle of Glupov. Compared to infantilization , stupefication is more effective strategy for a satirist to make the characters look foolish, which is one of Saltykov s most common comic devices. Stupidity is a kind of logical inability to distinguish cause from effect, premise from conclusion, the central point from the peripheral, the important from the unimportant. The townspeople of Glupov recall with tears their previous rulers, all friendly, and kind, and handsome-and all of them in uniform! Here Saltykov mocks servility of Glupovians. Last but not least, Saltykov through the device of physiologization stresses that intellect in his characters did not exist at all. In this respect, most of mayors in Glupov indulge in gluttony, sexual pleasure, and intoxication. Most of Glupovian rulers are described as gourmets. Dju Shario regaled himself with frogs ; Dvoekurov brewed beer and mead, introduced mustard and by leaves ; Ferdyshchenko, who loved to eat boiled pork and goose with cabbage , finally died from overeating. In conclusion, Saltykov succeeds in making his satire comic using the three types of device in The History of a Town. Thus, his attack on the despotism of the 19th century Russia becomes powerful because it is armed with laughter, the most effective weapon for social vices.