The Trickster’s Evolution in “Frankenstein in Baghdad” by Ahmed Saadawi

Vlasova Yuliya PhD in Philology Associate professor, Department of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia 117198, Russia, Moskva oblast', g. Moscow, ul. Miklukho-Maklaya, 10/2, of. 502 vlasova-yue@rudn.ru Other publications by this author

In 2014, the Iraqi writer Ahmed Saadawi was awarded the "Arabic Booker" for the novel "Frankenstein in Baghdad" ( "") – the most prestigious prize in the field of Arabic fiction. Arabist V.N. Zarytovskaya, who translated this novel into Russian, noted that the award of the "Arabic Booker" is associated with the acute political and social orientation of the work ^{[1, p. 70]}. The theme of "Frankenstein in Baghdad" is the survival of Iraqis at a critical stage, in the conditions of the American occupation of the early noughties. The documentary produced was indicated by N.M. Shumskaya ^[2]. The place of action is indicated in the name – Baghdad, the largest city in the Middle East, where millions of people of different faiths live. There is an oppressive atmosphere in this modern Babylon: explosions occur every day, people die. Different layers of Iraqi society are united by the figure of reporter Mahmoud al-Sawadi (the author's alter ego), who is studying the case of the mysterious Frankenstein. During the investigation, the journalist comes to the conclusion that the junk dealer Hadi from the al-Batawin quarter is involved in creating a monster that scares the townspeople. It is not easy to convict Hadi's dealer, because he has the qualities of a cheat, a dreamer and a drunkard. That is, he cannot be trusted. He's a typical trickster.

Many scientific papers have been devoted to the image of the deceiver hero. The mythological encyclopedic dictionary gives the following definition of this concept: "A trickster is a demonic–comic understudy of a cultural hero, endowed with the features of a rogue, a mischievous person" ^{[3, p. 670]}. Previously, scientists have identified the main features and functions of the trickster. According to T. V. Platitsyna, "studies of the trickster image in foreign cultural studies, originated at the end of the XIX century in the mainstream of anthropology and folklore studies, developed in various directions in the XX century, including psychoanalysis, literary studies, gender, discursive and hermeneutic studies, ethnology and ethics" ^{[4, p. 154]}. Speaking about the phenomenon of the trickster, Yu. V. Chernyavskaya wrote that the main function of the trickster is "to be a point of combining the incompatible, which generates the new" ^{[5, p. 38]}. Hungarian scientist K. K. Kerenyi emphasized that the trickster is "the root of all the roguish creatures of world literature, covering all times and cultures" ^{[6, p. 245]}. American scientists U. Doty and W. Hines identified two main functions of the trickster: entertaining and reflecting, as well as six typical features of its archetype ^{[7, pp. 33-45]}. Continuing their work, the Russian literary critic D. A. Gavrilov deepened and expanded the classification of trickster traits. In particular, in his monograph "Trickster. The actor in Euro-Asian folklore" ^[8] he described seven features of the trickster as a cultural hero during the change of cultural formations and social eras:

1. trickster as a troublemaker

2. trickster as initiator

3. trickster as an intermediary

4. trickster as a savage

5. trickster as a getter of goods, a magician

6. trickster as a werewolf, trickster, player

7. trickster as a youngster and a wise man at the same time

 Consider the image of Hadi al-Ataq from the novel by Ahmed Saadawi for the presence of all seven traits in him. We will identify their features in the context of Middle Eastern culture and socio-political life of Iraq of our time.On the first pages of the novel, Hadi Hussein Idrus, nicknamed the Dealer (in Arabic, "al-Atak") appears: "a man of about fifty, a sloppy, unfriendly junk dealer, with an eternal smell of fumes, wanted to buy antiques from his neighbor Ilisha" ^{[9, p. 16]}.

It is also noteworthy that the second chapter of the novel, which describes the details of the junk dealer's life, is called "Liar". Umm Daniel's neighbor from the completely leaning house of Hadi al-Atak "had an unruly beard and a bristling mustache" ^{[9, p. 23]}. An unattractive portrait of a junk dealer with bulging eyes, in worn clothes with burnt cigarette holes is complemented by repulsive details of his life. It was impossible to live in Hadi's house, which he called a "Jewish ruin": everything was broken and scattered there. This character is dissonant with the environment. With his lifestyle (a bachelor, without relatives), immoral behavior (gets drunk in the evenings) and appearance (a slob, wears rags), a junk dealer has been violating the established order for centuries. Hadi is a troublemaker.

However, people are not afraid of al-Ataq. Hadi has his own profitable business: he organized the collection and resale of recyclables. The residents of the quarter are waiting for him to give away all the junk and listen to the entertaining stories that Hadi masterfully invents. We learn that the Baryshnik had a student, partner and only friend, thirty-five-year-old Nahem Abdeki, who was killed by a fragment of a car packed with explosives. The teacher wanted to do a good deed and bury the student with dignity. Hadi collected what was left of Nahem, went to look for the missing body parts, but when he returned, he did not find the corpse of the deceased friend. Later, the creature, assembled by a junk dealer from parts of innocently murdered people, found its creator by itself. All Hadi's initiatives lead to irreversible consequences.

 As for the trait of the trickster Hadi as an intermediary, it is also clearly traced. The author emphasizes that Hadi was the conductor of events. He acted as the "father" of Frankenstein, who gave birth to a prophet or a tyrant, without knowing what troubles his child would bring to people. Hadi was needed by the higher powers as a blind instrument of fate. The savage trait of the trickster is expressed in a phrase thrown by one of the neighbors: "Hadi is an old devil, capable of anything" ^{[9, p. 240]}.

Hadi's marginality was a consequence of the shock he experienced. Hadi changed, became nervous and aggressive, abused alcohol, descended and went wild.

 The fifth trait of the trickster – the ability to act as a getter of goods lies in the profession of a Dealer and his skillful hands, who could create a new thing from an old cabinet, shelf or chair. In addition to this gift, Hadi had a rich imagination, he could turn any situation into a fascinating plot. Al-Atak was able to compose amazing stories. In the evenings, in the coffee shop of his friend Aziz al-Mysri, Hadi enthusiastically told stories about how he allegedly ran into the president himself one evening in one of the alleys of al-Jadiriyya. So the visionary Hadi gave people joy.Speaking about Hadi as a werewolf, it can be mentioned that during the interrogation, the commander of the special group thought that Hadi was living a double life, pretending to be a harmless junk dealer, and he himself was a hardened bandit:

"That rascal!" ^{[9, p. 201]}. Hadi, the daredevil, bravely endured the blows of a sharp knife and did not give anything to the officers. He was saying to himself that he would not die so easily. He will fight until his strength runs out. Journalist Mahmoud, who wrote an article about the mysterious Baghdad Frankenstein, noted about Hadi that he is a liar and laughs in his face. "It is not for nothing that he is called a scoundrel" ^{[9, p. 138]}.

The last property of the trickster is the combination of the qualities of a youth and a sage. Indeed, Hadi is a fool and a prophet. The hero's naivety, boyish faith in the future, and willingness to start all over again give him a youngster. Even outwardly the Dealer is skinny, puny, but strong. However, the hero takes on the mission of the prophet, confessing to the crimes of his Nameless brainchild (as the residents of Seventh Street called Frankenstein). In the image of Hadi Baryshnik, the features of the beloved hero of Arabic folklore, the rogue Juhi (the Arabic version of Khoja Nasreddin), who behaves like a fool and a philosopher at the same time, are visible. The fool al-Atak repeatedly repeating in a coffee shop an incredible story about the creation of a Nameless one from the parts of the victims of terrorist attacks, forced others to believe in it and eventually believed in it himself, signing his own sentence.

C. G. Jung wrote about the proximity of the trickster to the savior, arguing that "only the one who inflicts wounds and is wounded himself can heal, and that only the sufferer can avert suffering" ^{[10, p. 266]}.

Thus, in the novel "Frankenstein in Baghdad" Ahmed Saadawi brought out the image of a trickster, a trickster, a deceiver Hadi a Dealer. He is not a bearer of evil, but a performer of the mission. The junk dealer is not tied to material values, he does not have a well-equipped house, but only a temporary shelter "Jewish ruin". The hero lives in a dark time when the old totalitarian regime of Saddam Hussein has fallen, and the new democratic one has not yet been fully established. Hadi has a mission to illuminate the world, to make it better. Trickster has no parents, no wife, no children. He is not burdened with family ties, so he wanders around the city. Al-Atak is going through a difficult ordeal: a terrorist attack took place before his eyes, he was wounded by an explosive wave. Then the special services tortured him for a long time, but he survived. In addition to this, his house was blown up and burned down, but the hero again cheated death and survived, although he ended up in the hospital with burns. He had a friend who was his partner and assistant, but whom Hadi could not bury. This injury provoked the deformation of the junk dealer's personality.

The cunning Baryshnik has the skills to pretend so that others believe him: neighbors, coffee shop visitors, special services officers. Where does Hadi get the strength to act when there is so much fear and unhappiness around? It's the nature of a trickster, a trickster, a player who can't be attributed to either the side of good or the side of evil. At the moment of transition from one side to the other, he is happy because he lives by himself and does not serve anyone. He's a double agent, a werewolf, and an anarchist. Getting into situations of ethical ambiguity, a junk dealer says one thing, does another, and keeps a third in his head. Using a sharp mind and resourcefulness, Hadi has the skills to pretend that others believe him. However, the trickster's unique ability not to take the side of the authorities and not to be a rebel Hadi from Baghdad was not useful. Trickster Hadi was reborn into a cultural hero.

The reader wonders why the trickster, cunning and sorcerer Hadi in the finale of the novel takes the blame for other people's crimes committed in the city? After all, being a trickster by nature, he would have to get out of any scrape? The ragpicker from Saadawi's novel evolved: from a classic antagonist trickster, he turned into a protagonist in the novel's finale. Living among people, shuttling between two worlds, the bright world of the future and the dark world of the past, the junk dealer performs not just the function of an intermediary, but takes on the mission of Christ and saves people from the fears and horrors of the surrounding reality. In the finale of the novel, the residents of Baghdad fired guns together and exclaimed: "All the troubles are over!" ^{[9, p. 314]}. Hearts yearned for the joy, the taste of which they had managed to forget for all the years full of adversity.

 In the novel, the trickster's image is transformed from an intermediary into a murderer, and then into a savior. It can be added that although the classic trickster has no soul, the junk dealer Hadi has it: he pitied the family of a murdered friend, was going to bury him, that is, he showed nobility. Researcher A. G. Shevyakova noted that "the trickster as a cultural phenomenon provides a reserve for the development of mass consciousness" ^{[11, p. 32]}.In conclusion, I would like to answer the question, why do people like tricksters?

The fact is, the trickster has a number of positive qualities:

· helps the reader to reveal the true essence of people and phenomena,

· has a sense of humor and looks at all the events happening to him with irony,

· an optimist by nature,

· does not commit evil deeds and does not cheat for profit,

· is not afraid to prove himself and at the same time lose his status, drop his good name, lose his prestige,

· knows how to play circumstances in his favor,

· has the ability to accumulate internal energy in the most difficult moments of his life, recharging from failures, catastrophes,

· uses someone else's aggression, pressure of circumstances, restriction of freedom as a fulcrum through which you can jump to another world,

· definitely smart,

· works wonders.

With the help of theoretical and empirical methods, such as comparison, evaluation and generalization, the article managed to determine the role of the trickster Hadi in describing the real events that took place in Baghdad in the nineties of the twentieth century. Researchers A. G. Fattakhova and L. I. Gareeva emphasized: "the image of Frankenstein in the Arabic version reflects the senselessness of revenge and violence" ^{[12, p. 22]}. It should be added that the figure of the creator of the Arab Frankenstein has become a symbol of the intelligence, ingenuity, and perseverance of the Iraqi people, who survive in unbearable conditions and are ready to sacrifice themselves for the common good, taking on other people's atrocities and sins. The writer's innovation in giving the trickster-presenter a Christological role. Ahmed Saadawi, in the words of Hadi, addresses the reader: "This is a man! Don't you understand? Man! Wake up, people!" ^{[9, p. 33]}. "Frankenstein in Baghdad" is the story of a monster created by the imagination of a trickster and marginal Hadi. This novel is a cross-section of the Iraqi society of the noughties, living in an atmosphere of fear, accepting the consequences of major political and historical events as a victim. A simple Iraqi cannot turn the wheel of history back, he creates chaos out of his fantasies, into which everyone plunges. Saadavi's work is a moral reflection on the meaning of crime and the responsibility of the individual for the committed act.