The art of cutting out and sewing (notes on the subject)

The article deals with the image of the tailor in literature, from the very first tailor, Adam, to the literary biography of Eduard Limonov. It does not actually mean that all the texts presenting this image are subjects of consequent consideration. The aim of the article is to identify some characteristic features of the «tailor's evolution». In Russian literature there are two main types of the «tailor»: «portnoj» and «portnjaz-hka» (a master and his apprentice, the duality of the word assumes lack of either skill or wish). The word itself appeared in the language thanks to the felicitous translation of the title of brothers Grimm's fairy tale about a brave little tailor. «Portnjazhka» is always brave and ready to change his craft for the might and glory. «Portnoj» is a poor righteous drinker, who longs for wealth but remains loyal to his profession. «Portnjazhka» cares about the impression he makes, while «portnoj» undresses the subjects of his professional efforts literally (Grimm) and metaphorically (Andersen). «Portnjazhka» is a character; «portnoj» is a means of penetrating into the essence. «Portnjazhka» embodies heroism, while «portnoj» embodies routine of everyday life. «Portnjazhka» succeeds due to good luck, «portnoj» obtains material benefit only due to magic. The life of «portnjazhka» is governed by chance, the life of «portnoj» is governed by fate, and he himself can play the role of destiny. The two types of the tailor interact in «Zakoldovannyj portnoj» («The Tailor Enchanted») by Sholom Alejkhem. In «Jegipetskaja marka» («The Egyptian Stamp») by Osip Man-delstam the tailor is the master of life and death, at the same time he belongs to art, which has the same opportunities. Osip Mandelstam names the craft «delo» (which means both «work» and «case»), which creates a pun: «shit' odezhdu» and/or «shit' delo» (in Russian «shit'» means «sew», and the abovementioned expressions with this word mean «sew clothes» and «trump up a case», respectively). Since Gogol wrote «The Overcoat», the tailor has been personified in cutting out an overcoat. In «Staryj pidzhak» («The old coat») and «Iskusstvo krojki i shitja» («The art of dressmaking») by Bulat Okudzhava the coat becomes the measure of lifetime, and its renovation means the change of fate. The new motif of «a tailor's son» being a kind of «the artist as a young man» appears in Henry Miller's «Black Spring». In the XXth century «portnoj» is much more popular than «portnjazhka», the story tends to be allegoric and the image becomes the symbol of tragic mismatch between expectations and reality. The tailor's potential aptitude for «reshaping» the world does not save him from being sacrificed for the world history. Hence the image of «a Jewish tailor», the vic­tim of the Holocaust, which acquires a specific status. Nowadays the image of the «brave portnjazhka» re­gains its popularity, quite often in the form of a childish self-nomination. It is Eduard Limonov who can be considered the initiator of this process. Being used to earn a living sewing trousers when he was a young art­ist, he has become a provocative writer, bravely revolting against the imperfection of the world.