Olesha - Yuriy Karlovich Olesha (English notation)

A Polish novelist and playwright active in the former Soviet Union. He grew up in Odessa, Ukraine. He gained instant fame with his long anti-realistic novel "Envy" (1927), which dealt with the problem of Soviet intellectuals in the 1920s, and then published the revolutionary fairy tale "Three Fatties" (1928). "Envy," which depicts the conflict between the old and new worlds during the construction of socialism, was adapted by the author himself and performed at the Vakhtangov Theater under the title "The Conspiracy of Feelings." He also wrote more than 20 other stories, including the famous short stories "Love" and "Cherry Seeds," which are very poetic and unique in style and anti-realistic in technique. He also wrote film scripts (for example, Dostoevsky's "The Idiot"). He was so sincere about his own qualities and his art that he was almost silent after 1927. He was on the purge list in the 1930s, but miraculously escaped. The extensive essay of autobiographical notes he left behind, "Not a Day Spent Without a Line" (1965), is an artistic testimony to the times and a new form of romance.

[Masahiro Kudo]

"Envy" translated by Hiroshi Kimura (included in "World Literature Collection 31", 1967, Shueisha)" ▽ "Love" translated by Masahiro Kudo (1971, Shobunsha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

旧ソ連で活躍したポーランド人の小説家、劇作家。ウクライナのオデッサに育つ。1920年代ソ連知識人問題を扱った反写実的作風の長編『羨望(せんぼう)』（1927）で一躍名声を得、続いて革命のおとぎ話『三人のでぶ』（1928）を発表。社会主義建設期における新旧世界の相克を描いた『羨望』は、作者自身の脚色で『感情の陰謀』と題されワフタンゴフ劇場で上演。ほかに、実に詩的で特異な文体、反写実手法の名短編『愛』『サクランボの種子』など20編余りを書く。また、映画シナリオ（たとえばドストエフスキーの『白痴』など）も書く。自己の資質と芸術に誠実なあまり、27年以降はほとんど沈黙。30年代粛清リストにあがりながら奇跡的に免れた。残された自伝的メモの膨大なエッセイ『一行とて書かざりし日なし』（1965）は時代の芸術的証言であり、新しい形式のロマンである。

［工藤正広］

『木村浩訳「羨望」（『世界文学全集31』所収・1967・集英社）』▽『工藤正広訳『愛』（1971・晶文社）』

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