Joke and Horror in the Self-Identy of the Lyrical Hero in <I>The Mummers</I> by V. F. Khodasevich

Abstract

This article features V. F. Khodasevich’s poem The Mummers and explains why horror replaces humor in the main character’s self-analysis. According to M. M. Bakhtin, the voice of the Persona fades or becomes distorted if it sounds alone, outside the Chorus. In this particular case, falling away from the Chorus provokes the fear of losing self-identity. The speaker identifies himself as Me / Not-Me based on the sacred boundaries between Mine and Someone Else’s. This situation is most clearly manifested in the line when the eyes of the speaker meet those of the mummer in a certain "uncoordinated" way, which can be interpreted as separation. The Yuletide chronotope makes the artistic world of the poem unfamiliar and alien. The masquerade blurs the boundaries between the worlds, and the speaker discovers that participation in this ritual requires personal responsibility. The open meeting of Me and The Other is anything but one-sided, and the ritual game appears to have a deep and serious meaning.

Keywords

• persona
• reader
• joke
• game
• horror
• self-identity
• visual in literature
• mummers
• v. f. khodasevich