The place of execution
The execution place is a socially critical, tragic novel by the Kyrgyz writer Tschingis Aitmatow . The first edition took place in 1986 in Russian under the title Плаха ("Placha") in the magazine Новый мир ("Novyj mir" = 'New World') in three episodes. The German first edition in the translation by Friedrich Hitzer was published by Unionsverlag in 1987 . The book was published in the GDR , also in 1987, under the title Die Richtstatt in a translation by Charlotte Kossuth by Volk und Welt . Appeared in the last years of the Soviet Union , the criticism of social conditions it contained supported the perestroika that was just beginning and also the change in the GDR.
content
The novel tells the independent fates of two people, the young theologians and gooder Awdij Kallistratow and the reformist shepherds Boston Urkuntschijew . These are artistically linked through the frame story of the wolf couple Akbara and Tashchajnar , because the wolves meet the two main characters of the novel at crucial points. The novel addresses man's responsibility for nature and for himself. It is about man’s difficult struggle to decide between good and bad. The philosophical center is a fictional conversation, integrated into the novel, between Pontius Pilate and Jesus Christ before his execution on Golgotha .
Part 1
The book starts from the perspective of wolves Akbara and Taschtschajnar the north of the largest lake in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan , the Issyk-Kul , in the high mountains Tian Shan , a territory conquered. The novel begins as a classic animal or nature novel. Caused by the approach of a helicopter, a flashback begins. The wolves have had bad experiences with this something that is uncanny for animals. It is one reason why they are here now and no longer in the distant South Kazakh steppe Mujunkum , their home. The reader is taken into the past. Akbara the she- wolf has had her first cubs and lives happily. On an outing with their cubs, they meet a person. It is Avdi Kallistratov , who runs half-naked through the savannah, intoxicated by the steppe hemp in full bloom. He has strayed far from his marijuana gathering companions . When he sees the wolf cubs and speaks to them lovingly, Akbara notices him . Awdji can only save himself from the she-wolf leaping into the air by instinctively crouching . She decides to flee with the little ones.
The wolves still have a good life. Akbara hunts small animals for her young during the summer and dreams of hunting together in the fall, when the wolves hunt big game. Their prey is then the Central Asian saiga antelopes. When the time comes, the family is on their way.
Sudden helicopter noise brings a sudden turn in the life of wolves. The people hunt the antelopes. In order to fulfill the target of the socialist plan for meat production , a party official came up with the idea of hunting the antelopes. The herds are systematically rounded up from the air for shooting. A hunt for life and death begins, and the wolves are in the middle of it. The saigas are shot out of cars with submachine guns. Akbara's children are dying. As if by a miracle, the two old men survived. They cannot go back to the cave in the evening. There are people, carcass collectors. Awdij was among them again . However, he is tied up between dead Saigas on a truck. The others are drunk and want to give this " priest " a re-education.
Avdij remembers: his childhood, his father, an Orthodox deacon , his way into the spiritual seminary; of his arguments there. He is a new thinker who campaigns for a reformation of the church, for adjustment to the times. But the church insists on tradition and obedience. Awdji leaves the seminary. He is advised to be careful, because the world outside the church walls (socialist dictatorship) also relied on power and submission. Awdji, the do-gooder, believes in God, albeit in his new, indefinite way. He wants to help people lead righteous lives. Then he hears about the case of a drug courier who was saved from juvenile punishment in Siberia only by the entry of his uncle. Awdij now sees his task in "converting" drug couriers and wants to write a corresponding report for the newspaper. With the adolescent's tips and references, he meets the couriers at the Kazan train station in Moscow , young people from all corners of the Soviet Union who are looking for a quick buck. You set out on a journey to the Central Asian republics, where the wild hemp grows. He befriends two of them, Petrucha and Lenka , and tries to dissuade them from collecting drugs.
Part 2
The leader of the troop remains unrecognized for a long time. Only when they are already in the steppe, the hemp has been picked and dried and they are preparing for the return journey, Awdij meets Grischan . He has already noticed that Awdij is no ordinary petty criminal. He has heard of his attempts to dissuade Lenka and Petrucha from their craft and is now demanding an explanation. He wants Awdij to leave the company. A dispute develops about the right and wrong of the drug trade. Grischan's point of view is that people don't expect salvation from God, but rather comfort in the here and now. He helps them do this with drugs. But he accepts a deal: if Awdij succeeds in convincing Lenka and Petrucha on the return journey to the train station, he would let them go with him. Otherwise Awdij should leave the troops.
The couriers stop one of the many freight trains to travel as black passengers to the Shalpak-Saz station and change to passenger trains there. On the way, the couriers ask Grischan to finally be allowed to smoke some of their marijuana harvest. Awdij tries to stop it. The situation escalates when he throws his harvest off the train and asks the others to do the same. The intoxicated couriers beat him furiously and throw him off the moving train. Awdij miraculously survives. It is Friday.
Change of scene: Jerusalem. Jesus is condemned to death and is brought before the Roman governor. He sees in him a cunning seducer who wants to get the masses on his side with his speeches in order to then come to power himself. Still, this person attracts his interest. A profound conversation develops between the two completely different men. This philosophical conversation contains the idea of a better society, but also the reality of rejection by the mass of people; a tragedy from which the further fates of the main characters of the novel are to be interpreted (see interpretation below). Jesus rejects his rescue through Pilate, since he would be unfaithful to his own conscience or God, and dies at the age of 33.
Awdij wakes up the next morning and drags himself to the country road. He is allowed to drive to the city of Shalpak-Saz on a wagon. Because of his wounds and the battered clothes, he is picked up by the militia. In the police station he meets the drug couriers. All of them - with the exception of Grischan - were caught and are waiting to be removed. Awdij, still obsessed with saving them, wants to be trapped with them. The militiaman thinks he is mentally confused and puts him on the street. He comes to the local hospital. There he meets Inga Feodorovna , with whom he falls in love. Inga is a scientist, single parent and deals with combating the hemp plant. They are both fighting on the same front - by the medium of the word, they by science.
After his regeneration, Avdi goes back to Moscow to publish his report on juvenile delinquency. He hopes for a signal that will shake up society. Instead, the article is not printed. It would be a shame for the Soviet Union. It can not be what may not be. Awdij keeps afloat with odd jobs and writes to his loved ones every day. They are planning a future together.
To get to know his in-laws, he goes back to Inga in autumn. When he arrives in Shalpak-Saz, Inga is not there. A note in the keyhole stated that she had to leave urgently as there were problems with her ex-husband regarding custody. Awdij should get the key from a friend, she would be back soon.
Awdij strolls through the city and meets Ober-Kandalow , an ex-military man at the train station , who is looking for employees for the upcoming hunt for the Saigas . As he is short of money, Awdij agrees. After Awdij, probably in the face of the barbaric massacre of the saigas, had ticked off and had persuaded the hunting helpers to pray to God with him and ask for forgiveness of this guilt (although he had chosen the wrong audience), he was won over by the men immobilized. After hours and several bottles of vodka, you remember him and want to re-educate him. Unfortunately, Awdij misjudges the seriousness of the situation this time too. Instead of giving in, he sticks to his convictions, like in the wagon with the drug couriers. Since he does not want to renounce God and spits out the alcohol that is poured into him, he is beaten and kicked. Passing out, he thinks of Inga, his love. What will become of her? He also mystically feels the closeness of the wolves approaching their cave.
Someone among the drinking brothers comes up with the idea of crucifying the "priest". You tie him hanging crosswise between Saxaul bushes and then leave. Pain rushes through his battered body. After a few hours Akbara comes . She seems to remember this person. Awdij greets her with the words "You are there ..." and dies. In the morning the executioners come back. The wolves troll and leave the Mujun-Kum steppe and head south forever. Their next area on Lake Aldasch will not bring them any luck either. Here they lose their second litter when the obstructive reed beds are burned down for the construction of railway lines for the opencast mine . The wolves now migrate into the mountains and finally arrive at Issyk-Kul , the largest lake in Kyrgyzstan. “It was no longer possible to run. In front of them lay the sea ... Here Akbara and Tashchaynar began their lives all over again. Wolf cubs were born again - this time four animals were born. It was her last desperate attempt to breed her clan. But there, at Issyk-Kul, the story of the wolves ended in a terrible tragedy ... ”(Closing part 2, p. 307).
part 3
Basarbay Nojgutov is a shepherd of the local sovkhoz . On this day, however, instead of looking after the farm's sheep, he will be available to guide geologists in the mountains. Easy money. Basarbaj is tired of pastoral life. Hard work, poor living conditions, an unhappy marriage, alcohol addiction. In comparison with many other shepherds of the large company, especially Boston Urkuntschijew , he sees himself as disadvantaged by life. He is happy when he can talk the geologist about a bottle of vodka at the end of the day . On the way home he does break at exactly that place where Akbara and Taschtschajnar have their cave. They are on the hunt and have left the boys alone. Basarbaj notices the cave with the boys. He takes her to sell. Suddenly he becomes aware of the danger he has put himself in. The parent animals could be nearby. Immediately he makes his way home, even forgetting the vodka bottle. A little later, the wolves come to the cave, notice the theft and take up the chase. Unarmed, it will be a life and death run for Basarbaj. Thanks to his horse, he makes it to the Boston sheep farm. There are dogs and people here. The wolves stay apart. Boston, the head of the house, is not present, but other shepherds, Boston's wife Gulümkan and Kendschesch , the one and a half year old son of Boston. Basarbaj proudly shows off his prey. Everyone is impressed by the puppies. Little Kendschesch is playing with them. Then Basarbaj wants to continue because two of Boston's shepherds offer him armed escort. As Boston from Rajonsversammlung comes home, he's not thrilled. He thinks little of the lazy Basarbaj, even less of his clearing out of the wolf cave. He suspects that he has to bear the damage, because the wolves are angry, mourning the loss of their children. During the night Akbara and Tashchaynar had a terrible howl that made Gulümkan very afraid. Not just tonight ... So Boston wants to bring the wolf cubs back. He rides to Basarbaj to buy it from him. This hates Boston because of its success, its young, beautiful wife, its reputation. He does not sell it to him and will later boast about it again and again in front of others. Boston worries about his wife and her son. The little one is the link between them, both of whom have been married before. Gulümkan's first husband, Ernasar, was Boston's best friend. Both were soul mates, loved nature, and appreciate work. In search of new grazing areas for the sheep, they wanted to find the old pass through the mountains again, which no one has crossed since the war, first for lack of men, then for lack of memory.
In the mountains, Ernasar and his horse fall into a crevasse covered by snow and are presumably dead immediately. Nevertheless, Boston calls a rescue team. But even the mountain rescuers can only confirm death. They cannot recover the dead. He remains in the eternal ice. Boston blames itself for Ernasar's death. He and his first wife take care of the young widow. When his wife dies of cancer a little later, the two get together ... The wolves do not leave the people alone, they suspect their cubs in Boston's winter camp. They howl at night, during the day they tear sheep and sometimes attack a shepherd. Boston concludes that he must kill the wolves, even though he doesn't want to. In the state farm, although he was a top worker, he had problems with the communist party leader Kochkorbayev . Boston's efforts for more personal responsibility and (private) economic incentives for employees are a thorn in the side. For Boston the party leader is, in turn, a person whose practical use he questions, a beneficiary. At a gathering of the sovkhoz, the two clash with each other, and it also comes down to the wolves. The director has to mediate; on the one hand his best colleague, on the other hand the powerful party, which could also be dangerous for him ... During a visit to the village, Boston meets Basarbaj , who provokes him in the restaurant. Basarbaj is pissed off after hearing that Boston blames him for the wolves' raging. There is almost a physical argument. Boston later goes hunting for wolves. He hides behind a bush and waits. The animals are smarter than he thought. They hunt separately. When he Akbara takes a bead on him attacks Taschtschajnar on. Boston can just kill him, but Akbara can't. He is dissatisfied because he considers the wolf to be more dangerous ... It is time for people to break up winter camp and take the sheep to the spring pastures. So the Boston sheep farm is also on its way. The winter storage is cleaned and tidied up. Boston comes back from the buoyancy to help his wife pack. Akbara also goes to the sheep farm. She is still looking for her boys. Since the sheep farm seems abandoned, it roams closely around the buildings. She meets little Kendschesch , who thinks she is a gray dog. The child is not afraid of her and meets her very tenderly, so that Akbara is suddenly flooded with motherhood and wants to "adopt" this little person. She licks his face, then grabs the boy by the clothes, throws him over her back (in a way that wolves usually transport young lambs) and flees with him. A woman hears the boy's scream and calls for help. Boston rushes out of the house with the she-wolf shotgun.
He calls for her, asks her to release the child, which of course she does not understand. The women screech, Boston decides to shoot. He kills the animal and his son. Full of sorrow and anger, Boston now decides to revenge. He leaves the women with the dead child and rides to Basarbaj's camp. There you are also on the move. Boston shoots Basarbaj with the words "You are not worth living in the world and I myself want to break up with you" - in front of the horrified eyes of the economic workers. Then he announces that he is going where he needs to go. He rides away, then gives his horse freedom, continues on foot. “The blue suddenness of Issyk-Kul was getting closer and closer, and he wanted to dissolve into it, to disappear - he wanted to live and no longer wanted to live. Exactly like these waves - the wave foams, disappears and is born again out of itself. ”(End of the 3rd part) At the end of the novel, philosophically, the end of the world, the individual world, is thematized again. With this, Aitmatov finally follows up once more on the events in Jerusalem, on the conversation between Pilate and Jesus about the end of the world.
interpretation
Social criticism
The place of execution is considered the first literary signal for perestroika in the Soviet Union and the turning point in the GDR . Perestroika begins with Mikhail Gorbachev , who becomes general secretary of the CPSU Central Committee in 1985 . The novel was published in 1986. Even before that, in 1983 and 1984, under Andropov there was a time of rethinking and awakening in the political landscape of the Soviet Union. The time before that, the Brezhnev era , was, similar to the Erich Honecker era in the GDR, a time of stagnation and political, scientific and economic decline, in which real socialism lost its connection to the West. This period is still shaping the social system of the states of the former Eastern Bloc when the novel appears. In this environment it must be understood, otherwise the explosiveness of many statements will not be clear. Aitmatov, still a Soviet party official and model writer, had slowly developed into a critic. The upheaval in the Soviet Union prepared the ground for the publication of the novel. However, the novel sent out a signaling effect especially in countries that were critical of Gorbachev's perestroika, such as the GDR. Here the book reached 6 editions from 1987 to 1990 (plus 1 licensed edition in the GDR Reclam publishing house).
If environmentalists and critics of the SED were persecuted by the state security in the GDR up to the fall of 1989 , Aitmatow openly criticizes the ruthless exploitation of nature, the hunt for natural resources for which the environment is neglected, as for example at this point: “About many hundreds, thousands of hectares around Lake Aldasch, the ancient reed thicket was destroyed. After the war, huge deposits of rare raw materials were discovered here ... who thinks of the reed beds when you couldn't prevent the sinking of the lake, although it was considered unique, the lack of raw materials came first. Why not cut out the bowels of the entire globe like a pumpkin. "(End of 2nd part; p. 306) Through his main character Boston, he titled the party functionary Kotschkorbayev as superfluous, parasitic and thus reminiscent of the later turning point" Stasi in production! " He criticizes the problems widespread in the last years of real socialism such as illegal work, alcoholism, drug trafficking and violence (especially in the army and penal system). He succeeds in the latter through the negative cast of the person of Ober-Kandalow , who is drunk with his cronies and causes Avdiy's death, as well as through the allusions to the catastrophic fate of young people who are sent to camps in Siberia for petty criminal offenses. He criticizes the way those responsible deal with these problems, who prefer to cover them up and persecute critics instead of tackling the problems. Awdij's report on the drug couriers is not supposed to be published in the newspaper, "there have been certain concerns about the prestige of our country (alarming fact, if we keep a secret from ourselves)" (p. 281). He criticizes the alienation of people from property, the lack of a say in production and calls for a reform of planning ( planned economy ) and administration.
The criticism that Awdji brings to the church must also be read as a metaphor for the criticism of the party: "Dogmatism is the very strongest support of all conditions and of all powers" (p. 122), "... even in the world will not tolerated the questioning of fundamental doctrines, since every ideology claims the possession of ultimate truth, and with that you will inevitably collide ”(p. 123)
philosophy
The retrospective of the crucifixion of Jesus embedded in the novel is probably the key to the philosophical statements of the novel. There is Jesus Christ, there is the modern follower of Christ, the religiously motivated do- gooder Awdij , there is the life story of the ambitious shepherd Boston . All fail at first sight. They are judged because they do not follow the social mainstream . But their failure gives hope for a better future, for a reform of humanity.
The conversation between Pilate and Christ is largely made up. Jesus is portrayed very humanly. Aitmatov was not a Christian. When he wrote the book, he was in a leading position in the SU Communist Party. His father was already a communist . As a Kyrgyz he also comes from a traditionally Muslim society. In this respect, it is a humanistic Jesus Christ that the reader encounters in the novel, a Jesus whose main concern is the realignment of man (society) in this world. This is also the case with Awdij , who makes it his business to convert little people from the drug scene, boys who seek happiness with the wrong means. Or who tries to open people's eyes to the fact that a crime against nature is also a crime against people. The latter motif can also be found in Boston's argument with Basarbaj . They all fail because of the primitive in man. Aitmatov, for example, castigates addiction to power and violence (man's rule over other people), envy, greed for money and weakness (alcoholism, drugs) as evils of mankind. It appeals to people's ability to make decisions . Already at the beginning of the novel, while he was writing about the ideal world of the Kazakh steppe, meaningful statements were made like this: “They (the animals) were even less inspired by the knowledge that everything that has become common in human society was intrinsic the source of both good and evil ... hides. And that it depends entirely on the people where they direct this power… ”(p. 20). He puts the following statements in Jesus' mouth: “The Creator endowed us with the greatest good of this world - with reason” (p. 223). "Not I ... will come again after the resurrection, but it is you people ... through my sufferings, in people I come back to people ... so the person should be led to the throne of his destiny - for good and beauty" (p. 225). “I (Jesus) want to eradicate evil in the deeds and in the aspirations of men.” (P. 227) “Everyone desires to rule over at least one of his brothers. That is where the calamity lies. ”(P. 229)“ So know… I will not bring the end of the world, it does not come from natural disasters, but from enmity and hatred of people. ”(P. 233)
literature
Text output
- The place of execution , Zurich: Unionsverl. 2008, ISBN 978-3-293-00393-4 (current German edition)
- The place of execution , Zurich: Unionsverl. 1987, ISBN 3-293-00121-1 (FRG first edition)
- The Richtstatt , Berlin: Verl. Volk u. Welt 1987, ISBN 3-353-00261-8 (GDR first edition)
- Чингиз Айтматов: Плаха . Azbuka-Klassika, Sankt-Petersburg 2008, ISBN 978-5-91181-613-1 (current Russian edition)
Secondary literature
- Ruth Weiss: The place of execution. Legends and religious motifs in Tschingis Aitmatov's work , Literaturkritik.de, 2008 literaturkritik.de
- Rainer Traub: Defense of wolves against humans . In: Der Spiegel . No. 35 , 1987 ( online ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Tschingis Aitmatow: Der Richtplatz , Unionsverlag, Zurich 1987
- ↑ On the death of Tschingis Aitmatov: Wide awake dreamer ( Memento from March 24, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Excerpt from a protocol of the State Security 1989 ( Memento from August 20, 2019 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF)