Nikolai Nikolayevich Mikhailov

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Nikolai Nikolajewitsch Michailow (* 1905 in Moscow ; † 1982 ibid) was a Russian ethnographer who enjoyed great popularity in the Soviet Union as a popular writer and non-fiction author. Michajlow wrote numerous geographic non-fiction books (naučno-chudožestvennaja literatura [2] ) and travelogues about different regions of the Soviet Union and their socialist achievements, later also about trips abroad. His texts have been translated into many languages ​​and also published in non-socialist countries. [3]

Publications

The genre of popular scientific geography, which Michajlow used, was an important propaganda tool for the information and education of the Soviet citizens, who were urged to "identify with the Soviet geographical area" [4] .

Michajlow's writing moves between fact and vision, between textbook rhetoric and lyrical coloring. In this way he gives the Soviet citizens an understanding of the geographic economy and the spatial and national hierarchies of the Soviet Union. The historical narratives developed in the process of the territorial expansion of Russia on the Eurasian continent legitimized Russian supremacy. [5]

"Nad kartoj rodiny"

He is famous for his “understandable, elaborately designed and grippingly written work” [6] Nad kartoj rodiny (“About the Map of Homeland”), for which he received the Stalin Prize, published in 1947 . In the propagandistic work he describes the change that the cities and regions of the Soviet Union have undergone since the beginning of socialism and the progress it has brought. [7] The structure is seen as emerging, as a promising future vision.

His vivid representations are remarkable in the history of Soviet geographic and topographical literature: in his writing he manages to let the maps of the Soviet Union emerge in the mind's eye. In this way, according to Evgeny Dobrenko, he converts space into time, geography into history and the visual into the verbal [8] and thus achieves a particularly high level of clarity.

"Zima i leto"

In Zima i leto (očerki o našem klimate) (in: Vokrug sveta 1; 1954) Michajlov writes in the early days of Chruščev about the climatic diversity of the Soviet Union - from permafrost to the subtropics. [9]

"Idu po meridianu"

In his episodic travel reports, Michajlow describes the different places and people he encounters on his journey from the North Pole to the South Pole. The book comprises 39 chapters on 191 pages (German version). His narrator is his literary alter ego , who leads through the stories from the first person perspective in the present tense. The narrative extends from descriptions of landscapes, descriptions of encounters with other people, the reproduction of dialogues, narratives of dangerous situations to rambling reflections on the people and societies of different countries and their habits and conditions.

With the intention of traveling from pole to pole, he is part of a long (European) adventure tradition. He writes about his “mission”: “I wanted to make the trip to tell about it. So that others could read the report. I wanted to make it clear to the reader: 'You are a citizen of the world, you live on a planet!' ” [10]

He defines the writing of these travel notes as his job: “My job is to write about different places. In addition and therefore I am a globetrotter. ” [11] The phenomenon of traveling, especially abroad, which is still very new in the Soviet cotext, is introduced here as a matter of course for the first-person narrator.

Itinerary

His route first takes him north by plane to the North Pole , over the barren land of Severnaya Zemlya, the flat vegetated tundra , on over endless forests to Moscow. From there we continue south across the steppe towards Novorossiysk . Then it goes on with the large tanker to Batumi on the Black Sea in the subtropics and along the Turkish coast through the Bosporus Canal, through the Mediterranean to Greece to Gibraltar and between North Africa and Spain out to the open ocean along the African coast . The ship passes the desert zone of Central Africa , crosses the equator and arrives via small islands in South Africa to the Cape of Good Hope . From there we continue towards the South Pole through the Arctic Ocean to the Antarctic coast on a whaling boat . Michajlow now considers his expedition to be completed and begins the journey home.

He justifies his interest in a north-south axis with the change in vegetation in different latitudes and draws on a saying: “Do you know what geography actually is? Basically, the joy of being different. " [12]

Hero narrative

If his focus is apparently in particular on the geographical features of different regions, these are repeatedly linked in the descriptions with people and their interference with nature. The achievements of technology and those of its powerful people prove their superiority in various episodes of the travelogue.

For example, the airplane pilot Perow is described as an intrepid hero. In the chapter "Landing in the fog" [13] Michajlow is in a small plane on the way from the North Pole back to the mainland and worries about a safe landing in the thick fog. The danger, which is closely related to the feeling of the first-person narrator, is mastered with aplomb by the composed, closed Perow. A few chapters later in "The Heart" [14] this same Perow saves the life of the head of the ice monitoring service Chalilezki by flying him quickly and with gallows humor [15] to the nearest hospital despite a leak in the engine .

All figures working under the extreme climatic conditions are raised as heroes of everyday life and heroes in the service of humanity. This is particularly true of the Soviet workers. This is how he pays tribute to the people who work on a small island off Severnaya Zemlya:

“Eleven people spend the winter on the small island. You have committed yourself for two or three years. When the deadline has passed, they return here or go to another wintering station. They have a hard time, but they won't let themselves get down. They do their job.

The heroes who live on the drifting floes are known to almost the whole world. But who knows the heroes who work on this island and many similar bases on polar stations? " [16]

Experiences of the stranger

During the flight from the north of the Soviet Union in the direction of Moscow over the endless forests, Michajlow draws the Swedes as positive role models for dealing with nature. Sweden is also portrayed as a peaceful people who have not waged war for a long time, are not a member of NATO , do not arm themselves and are open to the beauty of nature. [17]

The second part of the trip, which goes to non-socialist countries, is special for the time being. The descriptions of the places and people are written in a tone of general interest. The capitalism is not openly criticized. However, the narrator observes the private trade with amusement and astonishment when he arrives at the port of Gibraltar and is received by competing traders. The sight of sailors with the “ Shell ” logo on their backs is also a shocking sight for him. [18]

This makes the racial policy in South Africa all the more critical. Michajlow denounces racism and exploitation in the name of economic interests and the superiority of whites. [19]

End of the journey

Reaching the Antarctic (chapter "Storm in the Antarctic" [20] ) culminates in the adventurous description of a storm on the high seas, in which two ships thawed together run the risk of colliding. After a successful separation maneuver, the situation can be brought under control. The narrator finally sums up the entire journey and makes comparisons between the North and South Poles.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Sanna Turoma: What is Euroasia? The metaphorical legacy of encyclopedic discourse. In: Christine Engel, Birgit Menzel (ed.): Russia and / as Eurasia: Cultural configurations. Berlin 2018, pp. 89-110. 103.

[2] This. 103.

[3] This. 103f.

[4] This. 104.

[5] This. 104.

[6] Gestwa, Klaus: The large Stalin buildings of communism. Soviet engineering and environmental history, 1948-1967. Oldenbourg 2010. 269.

[7] Der. 269.

[8] Evgeny Dobrenko: The Art of Social Navigation: The Cultural Topography of the Stalin Era. In the S. u. Eric Naiman (ed.): The Landscape of Stalinism. The Art and Ideology of Soviet Space. Seattle, London 2003, pp. 163-200, 199.

[9] Sanna Turoma: Imperiia Re / Constructed: Narratives of Space and Nation in 1960s Soviet Russian Culture. In: Dies., Maxim Waldstein (ed.): Empire De / Centered. New Spatial Histories of Russia and the Soviet Union. Farnham et al. 2013, pp. 241f.

[10] Nikolaj Michailow: From pole to pole. Translated by Juri Elperin. Moscow 1960. 4.

[11] Der. 4th

[12] Michailow, Nikolaj: From pole to pole. 5.

[13] Der. 20ff.

[14] Der. 41ff.

[15] “Perov said to Khaliletsky: 'You better fly to Moscow with me! Because if you die here, you will be buried in the rubble. There at least earth is poured over your coffin. '”(Ders. 37.)

[16] Der. 25f.

[17] Ders. 51.

[18] Der. Chapter “Trade and Change”. 119f ..

[19] Der. Chapter "Conversation with Choir and Kalynitsch". 146ff.

[20] Der. 170ff.