Stalin: Earthly incarnation of Demiurge

Abstract

The author's English summary from the article:

Key words: social realism, joke, folklore, ressentiment.

Several tendencies are connected to Stalin’s image in Georgian folklore. In folk- lore, as well as in fiction, the interests of the official government are expressed and anim- age of the leader is reflected according to the requirements of the prevailing culture. In folkpoems dedicated to Stalin we can outline three basic tendencies,in terms of content: social, mythological and ressentiment. All three layers are closely linked to each other. In the poems of social contentthe role of Stalin is related to the implementation of ideological platform of the so-called «third group» (Georgian Social Democrats) in the lives of workers and peasants and taking into consideration their interests.

A significant influence of propaganda is obvious here, as in the case of fiction literature. In folk poems Stalin is often mentioned by the following epithets: eagle, iron, steel. It is noteworthy that iron, steel, as the cheaper metals is the opposite of gold, and in this sense the shift of val- ues ​is quite obvious here. The alchemical process is produced inversively and, meanings exchange positions in the process of desemiotization, lead by this earthly incarnation of demiurge.In the folk poems dedicated to Stalin we can also find the followingepithets: the sun, the sunny-faced, the father. Social and mythic layers completely correspond to a third layer – ressentiment.

The trace of colonial mentalitycan be felt in folk poems and it is expressed in the opposite notions of the border, own territory and the enemy, on the one hand and in the shift of meanings, when a weak becomes strong, on the other hand. The paradigm shift, where the values ​exchange places, is obviously associated with Stalin’s figure. At the same time, it is the outcome of the work of the Defense Mechanism – the replacement of the principles developed by colonial mentaitywith the feeling of superiority connected to the Georgian origin of Stalin and perception of his image as thepersonification of Savior. Thus, Stalin is considered on the same level as Shota Rustaveli, one of the greatest figuresin Georgian culture.

In folk poems clearlyphallic symbol – an iron/steel sword is often used as a sym- bol of revenge also associated with the colonial mentality. Folklore, as well as fiction, expressed the official position and reflected an image of the Leaderaccording to the interests of the official power. The only space that was free from censoreship and orthodoxy, was jokes and anecdotes, for which their authors sometimes were imprisoned or put to death. A laughter has a cathartic function and acts as a kind of nervous regulator: accumulated negative mental and emotional energy that is re- tained or suppressed, is discharged, thanks to a joke, which results in cleansing/catharsis.

Published in the journal Sjani, vol. 19 (2018), pp. 319–325. Open the paper