«Восстание» или «мятеж»? Неизвестная комедия о польских событиях 1863 года
А “Rebellion” or a “Mutiny”? The Unknown Comedy about Polish Events of 1863

Summary/Abstract: This paper analyzes the ideological function of a literary text. The analysis is based on an anonymous play depicting the 1863 Polish and Lithuanian Rebellion. This play was published in 1865 in the Вестник Западной России (West Russia Bulletin) – the main official bulletin of the Russian Empire‘s North-Western region. By its genre it is a satirical comedy; it is entitled “The Meeting” and subtitled “An Episode of the Polish Mutiny”. The word “mutiny” was the key term in the political vocabulary of M. N. Muravyov, who led the suppression of this rebellion. The play is little-known in Lithuania and has not been studied yet. The very fact, that this comedy appeared, shows us how great were the concerns of the authorities about the issues of propaganda and interpretation of the events of the uprising after it had been suppressed. The plot and the presentation of events in this play can not be separated from the ideology and propaganda: how the characters are placed, how they are named – this all made it easy for the anonymous playwright to commit libel against the Polish political powers. The play utilizes the plot of N. Gogol’s “The Government Inspector” as a model, and this is also analyzed in this paper. The depictions of the characters in “The Meeting” are apparently satiric and sarcastic (the Poles urge for independence is substituted for the personal pursuit of profit) with a bite of mockery. The “literary devices” of the play give away their historical epoch and its dominating imperial trends in ideology.

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