Bibigon's Adventures
Bibigon's Adventures (Russian: Приключения Бибигона) is a literary fairy tale by Russian children's writer Korney Chukovsky. Bibigon is a mischievous thumb-sized midget boy who lives in Korney Chukovsky's dacha and claims he fell from the Moon and calls himself "Count Bibigon de Lilliput".[1]
History[edit]
Bibigon was the last children's fairy tale of Chukovsky written after a long hiatus caused by the death of tuberculosis of the youngest Chukovsky's daughter Mura (Maria), 11 years old.[2] Written as a mixture of prose and verse, the tale was first serialized in children's magazine Murzilka during 1945-1946, then the publication was stopped, due to the surge of the Soviet ideological censorship known as Zhdanovshchina.[3][4] The tale was accused of being "an obvious delirium", absurd, and nonsense under the guise of a fairy tale, lacking didactic values and ideology. The newspaper Pravda, the official organ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union published a scathing overview titled "Serious Flaws of Children's Magazines".[1] In particular, Bibigon's comical and absurd adventures were called "idiocies" and Bibigon himself was called a repulsive little freak, both boastful and cowardly. Detgiz, the publisher of Murzilka, scolded in the review, expressed a "deep regret" for publishing Bibigon.[5]
The finished tale was published in 1956 as a separate book, in heavily censored form, and the complete tale was published in 1963.
Cultural influence[edit]
In 1981 a puppet animated film Bibigon was released (Bibigon at IMDb ).[6] The film received several awards.
References[edit]
- ^ a b С. Крушинский Серьезные недостатки детских журналов, Pravda, August 29, 1946
- ^ Tatyana Knyazeva, Cyril Ioutsen, Chukovsky: An Introduction. A Guide to Korney Chukovsky Memorial House and Beyond, 2017, p.65
- ^ За что запретили «Одолеем Бармалея» и «Бибигона» К. Чуковского?
- ^ «Полная безыдейность, переходящая в идейность обратного порядка». Борьба с «чуковщиной»
- ^ Ben Hellman, Fairy Tales and True Stories: The History of Russian Literature for Children and Young People (1574 - 2010), 2013, p. 435
- ^ Бибигон, about film