Isaac Babel and the Self-Invention of Odessan Modernism

220 Pages·2012·3.916 MB·English

by  Rebecca Jane Stanton

Isaac Babel and the
Self-Invention of
Odessan Modernism
Rebecca Jane Stanton
rsi
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY PRESS / EVANSTON, ILUNOIS
Isaac Babel and the Self-Invention of Odessan Modernism
Northwestern University Press
Studies in Russian Literature and Theory
Señes Editors
Robert Belknap
Caryl Emerson
Gary Saul Morson
William Mills Todd III
Andrew Wachtel
Istmc Babel and the
Self-Invention of
Odessan Modernism
Rebecca Jane Stanton
Rl
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY PRESS / EVANSTON, ILLINOIS
Northwestern University Press
www.nupress.northwestern.edu
This book has been published with the support of the Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation.
The Harriman Institute, Columbia University, sponsors the Studies of the Harriman
Institute in the belief that their publication contributes to scholarly research and
public understanding. In this way the Institute, while not necessarily endorsing
their conclusions, is pleased to make available the results of some of the research
conducted under its auspices.
Copyright © 2012 by Northwestern University Press.
Published 2012. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stanton, Rebecca Jane, 1972-
Isaac Babel and the self-invention of Odessan modernism / Rebecca Jane
Stanton.
p. cm. — (Northwestern University Press Studies in Russian literature and
theory)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8101-2832-3 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Babel’, I. (Isaak), 1894-1940—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Kataev,
Valentin, 1897-1986—Criticism and interpretation. 3. Olesha, lUrii Karlovich,
1899-1960—Criticism and interpretation. 4. Russian literature—20th century—
History and criticism. 5. Russian literature—Ukraine—Odesa—History and
criticism. 6. Modernism (Literature)—Russia (Federation). 7. Odesa (Ukraine)—
In literature. I. Title. II. Series: Studies in Russian literature and theory.
PC3476.B2Z799 2012
891.7342—dc23
2012002271
® The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the Amer­
ican National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
For Edward Tayler, who taught me to read

Contents
Acknowledgments IX
Note on Translation and Transliteration xi
Introduction Stories That Come True
Chapter One City Through the Looking-Glass:
Literary Odessa 17
Chapter Two Isaac Babel: Stories That Lie Like Truth 43
Chapter Three Babels Bildungsroman and Odessan Modernism 74
Chapter Four Reinventing the Self: Valentin Kataev
and Yury Olesha 102
Conclusion The Odessan Self 143
Notes 147
Bibliography 177
Index 191

Acknowledgments
I am hugely indebted to the many people and institutions whose help and
support have made this book possible. The research and writing of it were
supported in part by a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University’s Davis
Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, and a Title VHI Combined Re­
search and Language Training fellowship from the American Council of
Teachers of Russian. An indispensable special assistant professor leave from
Barnard College allowed me to travel to Harvard and Odessa to take up
those fellowships and work on the project without distractions. Numerous
smaller grants from Barnard have supported both my research and my study
of Ukrainian, which is rightfully assuming increasing importance in post­
Soviet Odessa. A PepsiCo Research Fellowship and a publication grant from
Columbia University’s Harriman Institute for Russian, Eurasian, and East­
ern European Studies helped to fund my research in Odessa and the index­
ing and proofreading of this book, respectively. I am enormously grateful for
the generosity of each of these institutions, without which the book could
not have been completed.
Numerous people read all or part of the manuscript and offered help­
ful suggestions at various stages of its gestation. At the dissertation stage,
Cathy Popkin, Catharine Theimer Nepomnyashchy Mark von Hagen, Jer­
emy Dauber, and the late Robert Maguire gave me a sympathetic reading
and a great deal of sound advice. I owe Cathy Nepomnyashchy profound
thanks for reading and critiquing it again a couple of incarnations later, and
more generally for her unflagging support and encouragement as my de­
partment chair during my years at Barnard. Julie Buckler provided wisdom
and reassurance at crucial moments. Kevin Platt very generously read and
offered invaluable, thoughtful suggestions on an early draft. Taras Kosnar-
sky read the penultimate draft with extraordinary care and offered com­
ments that were both inspired and meticulous. Three anonymous review­
ers for Northwestern University Press also provided detailed comments that
helped me improve the manuscript significantly The contributions of all