Escapism and trauma in I. Babel's “Red cavalry”

The article presents an analysis of the narrator’s experience in “Red Cavalry”. The approach of the diegetic narrator to the reality of war is described as avoidance, or escapism. This approach is manifested in “Red Cavalry” on two levels: the diegetic level of “histoire” and the level of “narration”. Firstly, it is demonstrated in the article that the narrator wants to escape from the world of war on the diegetic level. Secondly, the reasons are discussed why his attempts to escape are never fully successful, or, in other words, eventful. A conclusion is made that one of the reasons might be the strong appeal, aesthetic and erotic, which the world of war has for the narrator. The narrator is described as painfully positioned between two “looming” events, that of a final escape and that of a transformation as a result of his collision with the world of war. After that, it is demonstrated that the experience of the narrator can be described as traumatic: firstly, because of the violence which permeates the world of “Red Cavalry”; secondly and most importantly, because one of the main features of trauma is its incomprehensibility, and the world is not comprehensible for the narrator. This incomprehensibility is rendered by the narrator both directly and through form. Namely, by way of ellipsis, when the narrator avoids speaking directly about what disturbs him (but it nevertheless “shows itself through” the narrative), and also through the way Babel’ uses “telegraph” style when speaking about violence, thereby avoiding conceptualization. Finally, the connection is shown between the two key concepts of the articles, escapism and trauma: the escapism of the narrator is seen as a reaction to the traumatizing reality, and the narrator’s inclination to avoid conceptualization is interpreted as a gesture of escapism.