The Satanic Cosmic Force 133
20. Roman Kim (1899–1967) was an orientalist by training and spent several years of
his life in Japan. While the novel is overtly propagandistic and clearly written in
the spirit of Stalinism (Stalin’s death actually figures in the novel), it does bespeak
a profound knowledge of Japanese culture and history. Kim is listed among the
orientalists repressed during Stalinism (cf. Ia. V. Vasil’kov, and M. Iu Sorokin
(eds.), Liudi i sud’by. Bibliograficheskii slovar’ vostokovedov – zhertv politicheskogo terrora
v sovetskii period (1917–1991) (St. Peterburg: Peterburgskoe Vostokovedenie, 2003),
p. 123. He was arrested in 1937. After his release in 1946, he wrote popular spy and
adventure stories. For an overview of Kim’s writings, see Wolfgang Kasack, Lexikon
der russischen Literatur ab 1917 (Stuttgart: Alfred Kröner Verlag, 1976), p. 172.
21. Roman Kim, “Devushka iz Khirosimy,” Oktiabr’, 8 (1954): p. 81.
22. For the problem of racism with respect to the bombing of Hiroshima, see Florian
Coulmas, Hiroshima. Geschichte und Nachgeschichte (München: C.H. Beck, 2010),
pp. 22–23; and Lifton and Markusen, The Genocidal Mentality, p. 22.
23. Cf. Kim, “Devushka iz Khirosimy,” 8, pp. 10–13; p. 95.
24. Il’ia Sel’vinskii, “Chitaia Fausta,” in Sobranie sochinenii v shesti tomakh. Tom 3-ii: Dramy
i tragedii (Moskva: Khudozhestvennaia literatura, 1973), p. 620 and 603.
25. Sel’vinskii, “Chitaia Fausta,” pp. 614–615.
26. Dmitrii Prigov, Azbuka 1 (http://www.prigov.ru/bukva/azbuka01.phpPrigov;
retrieved October 10, 2019).
27. “Недавней войны кровавая рана / Не даст нам беду проспать. / И в недрах
земли не хватит урана, / Чтоб двинуть историю вспять. / Я вижу над их
бесславным закатом / Свободных народов суд. / Ни доллар, ни ложь, ни
разбуженный атом / От кары их не спасут.” (“The bloody wound of the recent
war / Keeps us vigilant for disaster. / And all the uranium in the depths of this world /
Does not suffice to turn history backwards. / I foresee above their ignoble demise /
A court of the free nations. / Neither dollar, nor lie, nor the awakened atom / Will
save them from punishment.”) For a detailed discussion of this poem, see Garstka,
“The Politicization,” pp. 223–224.
28. Evgenii Dolmatovskii, “Slovo o zavtrashnem dne (Iz knigi),” Novyi mir, 7 (1949):
p. 167.
29. Garstka, “The Politicization,” p. 224f.
30. Garstka, “The Politicization,” p. 222.
31. “Там жил геологов отряд / В морозе и в жаре. / [...] / И командир их молодой,
/ Как долг ему велит, / Закладывал снаряд взрывной - / Не тол, не динамит,
/ Есть посильнее вещество / Теперь в твоем краю. / Не буду называть его...
/ Баюшки-баю. / [...] / Пусть к заграничным берегам / Докатится волна. /
Предупреждением врагам / Там прозвучит она. / [...]” (Dolmatovskii, “Slovo,”
pp. 170–171).
32. Sel’vinskii, “Chitaia Fausta,” p. 615, 675.
33. The author emphasizes that by the sheer cruelty of their capitalist system, the
perpetrators of Hiroshima victimize the survivors of their crime yet another time:
the delegates from Hiroshima, who during the bombing suffered severe injuries,
can barely afford their fare to Poland. At the Warsaw festival, however, they get
to experience a taste of the future peace implored by the author: for a few days,
Blacks, Asians, and Whites from all over the world live harmoniously under one
roof, unimpeded by racism, exploitation, and war (Evgenii Vorob’ev, “Delegat iz
Khirosimy,” in Literaturnaia gazeta, No. 93 (August 6, 1955): p. 4).
34. Roman Kim, “Devushka iz Khirosimy,” in Oktiabr’, 9 (1954): p. 97.
35. Kim, “Devushka iz Khirosimy,” 9, p. 86.
36. See Lifton and Markusen, The Genocidal Mentality, p. 42.
37. In Kim’s novel, the phoenix metaphor serves to presage Sumiko’s metamorphosis
from radiation victim to Red heroine (Kim, “Devushka iz Khirosimy,” 8, p. 75).
20. Roman Kim (1899–1967) was an orientalist by training and spent several years of
his life in Japan. While the novel is overtly propagandistic and clearly written in
the spirit of Stalinism (Stalin’s death actually figures in the novel), it does bespeak
a profound knowledge of Japanese culture and history. Kim is listed among the
orientalists repressed during Stalinism (cf. Ia. V. Vasil’kov, and M. Iu Sorokin
(eds.), Liudi i sud’by. Bibliograficheskii slovar’ vostokovedov – zhertv politicheskogo terrora
v sovetskii period (1917–1991) (St. Peterburg: Peterburgskoe Vostokovedenie, 2003),
p. 123. He was arrested in 1937. After his release in 1946, he wrote popular spy and
adventure stories. For an overview of Kim’s writings, see Wolfgang Kasack, Lexikon
der russischen Literatur ab 1917 (Stuttgart: Alfred Kröner Verlag, 1976), p. 172.
21. Roman Kim, “Devushka iz Khirosimy,” Oktiabr’, 8 (1954): p. 81.
22. For the problem of racism with respect to the bombing of Hiroshima, see Florian
Coulmas, Hiroshima. Geschichte und Nachgeschichte (München: C.H. Beck, 2010),
pp. 22–23; and Lifton and Markusen, The Genocidal Mentality, p. 22.
23. Cf. Kim, “Devushka iz Khirosimy,” 8, pp. 10–13; p. 95.
24. Il’ia Sel’vinskii, “Chitaia Fausta,” in Sobranie sochinenii v shesti tomakh. Tom 3-ii: Dramy
i tragedii (Moskva: Khudozhestvennaia literatura, 1973), p. 620 and 603.
25. Sel’vinskii, “Chitaia Fausta,” pp. 614–615.
26. Dmitrii Prigov, Azbuka 1 (http://www.prigov.ru/bukva/azbuka01.phpPrigov;
retrieved October 10, 2019).
27. “Недавней войны кровавая рана / Не даст нам беду проспать. / И в недрах
земли не хватит урана, / Чтоб двинуть историю вспять. / Я вижу над их
бесславным закатом / Свободных народов суд. / Ни доллар, ни ложь, ни
разбуженный атом / От кары их не спасут.” (“The bloody wound of the recent
war / Keeps us vigilant for disaster. / And all the uranium in the depths of this world /
Does not suffice to turn history backwards. / I foresee above their ignoble demise /
A court of the free nations. / Neither dollar, nor lie, nor the awakened atom / Will
save them from punishment.”) For a detailed discussion of this poem, see Garstka,
“The Politicization,” pp. 223–224.
28. Evgenii Dolmatovskii, “Slovo o zavtrashnem dne (Iz knigi),” Novyi mir, 7 (1949):
p. 167.
29. Garstka, “The Politicization,” p. 224f.
30. Garstka, “The Politicization,” p. 222.
31. “Там жил геологов отряд / В морозе и в жаре. / [...] / И командир их молодой,
/ Как долг ему велит, / Закладывал снаряд взрывной - / Не тол, не динамит,
/ Есть посильнее вещество / Теперь в твоем краю. / Не буду называть его...
/ Баюшки-баю. / [...] / Пусть к заграничным берегам / Докатится волна. /
Предупреждением врагам / Там прозвучит она. / [...]” (Dolmatovskii, “Slovo,”
pp. 170–171).
32. Sel’vinskii, “Chitaia Fausta,” p. 615, 675.
33. The author emphasizes that by the sheer cruelty of their capitalist system, the
perpetrators of Hiroshima victimize the survivors of their crime yet another time:
the delegates from Hiroshima, who during the bombing suffered severe injuries,
can barely afford their fare to Poland. At the Warsaw festival, however, they get
to experience a taste of the future peace implored by the author: for a few days,
Blacks, Asians, and Whites from all over the world live harmoniously under one
roof, unimpeded by racism, exploitation, and war (Evgenii Vorob’ev, “Delegat iz
Khirosimy,” in Literaturnaia gazeta, No. 93 (August 6, 1955): p. 4).
34. Roman Kim, “Devushka iz Khirosimy,” in Oktiabr’, 9 (1954): p. 97.
35. Kim, “Devushka iz Khirosimy,” 9, p. 86.
36. See Lifton and Markusen, The Genocidal Mentality, p. 42.
37. In Kim’s novel, the phoenix metaphor serves to presage Sumiko’s metamorphosis
from radiation victim to Red heroine (Kim, “Devushka iz Khirosimy,” 8, p. 75).