Velikii Kombinator: Gary Shteyngart's Russo-American Satire and the Authorial Self-Image

• In Event: Gary Shteyngart: Multicultural Literary Intersections

Abstract

In this paper, I will examine the various Russian American subtexts of satire in Shteyngart's work, focusing on Gogol's Dead Souls, Il'f and Petrov's The Golden Calf, and John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces. I argue that Shteyngart attempts to bring about a synthesis of various devices and characteristics of novelistic satire that are evident in the work of Toole, Gogol, and Il'f and Petrov. Shteyngart's treatment of the material from these subtexts ultimately draws our attention to his own authorial self-image. Like Ostap Bender in The Twelve Chairs and The Golden Calf, Shteyngart views himself as a glorious strategist and aggregator--a velikii kombinator. In his article "Gogol's 'Portrait' Repainted: On Gary Shteyngart's 'Shylock on the Neva'," Adrian Wanner examined Shteyngart's interest in Gogol's portrayal of money as a solvent for morality. By positioning himself as a practitioner within the canon of Russian and American satire, I would argue that Shteyngart portrays the satirical text as a self-aware generator of currency, as an alchemical medium that produces commodities of apparent value out of nothing.

Author

• Alexandar Mihailovic, Hofstra U