Vanka Kain in Russia’s Cultural Space: The Semiotics of Behaviour

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2022.1.671

Keywords:

eighteenth-century Russian literature, Vanka Kain, semiotics of behavior, adventurer, noble thief, M. Komarov

Abstract

This article examines the main interpretations of the image of Vanka Kain (Ivan Osipov), the famous “thief and swindler” from the 1730s, based on documents of the Investigative Prikaz, decrees of the Senate, and the affairs of the Police Chancellery, as well as two works of art from the eighteenth century in which Vanka Сain acts as the main character. The article considers Ivan Osipov’s “autobiography”, allegedly written by himself and known as The Life and Adventures of the Russian Cartouche Called Kain (1777), and The Story of Vanka Kain the Swindler, a book by M. Komarov (1779). While the analysis of historical documents makes it possible to recreate the historical appearance of Vanka Kain, literary texts help us see the main interpretations of his image in accordance with the traditions of eighteenth-century folk culture and fiction, as well as the traditions of the emerging robbery novel, which created the conditions for the romanticisation of the image of the outlaw. As a result, the author singles out images of the “Russian Cartouche”, “daring good fellow”, “unfortunate”, and “fraud and thief” as personifying elements of the buffooning nature of folk culture through the system of robbery-related jokes. A special place in the characterisation of Vanka is occupied by the image of the “detective” and “Kain” (the image of the latter is visualised to a lesser extent in literary texts, but is well reflected in documents from the eighteenth century). The author of the article suggests supplementing the existing characteristics of the image of Vanka Kain with the image of the adventurer of the era of “palace coups”. The semiotics of his behaviour are inextricably linked with the historical and cultural situation of the 1730s–1740s, which allowed a former serf to temporarily become the actual “master” of Moscow in accordance with the instructions of the Senate, which were based on the decree of Empress Elizabeth.

Author Biography

Elena Prikazchikova

Dr. Hab. (Philology), Professor, Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin.

19, Mira Str., 620002, Yekaterinburg, Russia.

ORCID 0000-0001-9018-6213

miegata-logos@yandex.ru

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Published

2022-03-26

How to Cite

Prikazchikova, E. (2022). Vanka Kain in Russia’s Cultural Space: The Semiotics of Behaviour. Quaestio Rossica, 10(1), 275–289. https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2022.1.671

Issue

Section

Disputatio