satire

The article discusses the role of the comic in the prewar historic drama on the example of Prince Napoleon by V. Shkvarkin and Long Long Ago by A. Gladkov. Shkvarkin wrote a satirical work exposing a potential adversary, and Gladkov wrote a heroic comedy glorifying the people’s valor. Historical comedies on the eve of the war instilled optimism in the audience and aroused a sense of patriotism.

The article analyzes an early play by Evgeny Schwarts Adventures of Hohenstaufen. The text poetics features are distinguished on the levels of the action development, character images, language humor. The genre dominating idea is identified. The author reveals how the vaudeville, the fairy-tale, and fantastic, and the satiric elements in the text interact. In the focus of the author’s attention is the motive of a ‘usual’ miracle/magic reflecting the aesthetic principle of the playwright.

The article researches the interaction of the satirical and vaudeville origins in E. Petrov’s play The World’s Island. The functions of the vaudeville poetics are identified on the level of the action development and character images.

The article studies the play poetics in I. Ilf, E. Petrov, V. Kataev’s play The Rich Bride. The role of the play is singled out on the level of character and action development, and the language strategies of the co-authors. The satirical (social and political) underlying message of the new time vaudeville is revealed, as well as the ambiguity in portraying the kolkhoz life of the 1930s in the play.