Folklore character Vasily Pupkin: origins, history

This simpleton with a funny name on the Internet is more popular than many politicians and showbiz stars. Who is Vasya Pupkin and why does everyone know him?

Internet meme

Paradox, but in fact it does not exist. He is a fictional character, an Internet meme (a media object created by mass media). For such purposes, even a new scientific word was singled out - an exemplar. In this context, this is a proper name, which is used to refer to an unknown person. For example, often in anecdotes appear the Ivanovs, Petrovs, Sidorovs.

From the school bench we are more familiar with the concept of "common noun" (for example, the Jews call traitors, the Stakhanovites are the foremost producers), but this is not the same as the exemplar. If in the first case usually some real person or artistic character gave the name to the generalized image, then in the second the name and surname were specially invented to denote the already existing social phenomenon.

Vasily Pupkin is a real phenomenon. Although it really is not, like Mickey Mouse, and Santa Claus, but the media space of the Internet wants to convince us otherwise. It's amazing, but the number of Vasi Pupkin's home pages is just off scale. There are more than 38 thousand of the same profiles, and this is only in the open spaces of the Runet.

Who is the author of this child, it is impossible to say for sure. Folklore is an oral folk art. Therefore, Vasya is a native of the people.

Who is represented by the notorious character?

Often our compatriots like to remember the name of Alexander Sergeevich in vain. For example:

- And who will clean?

"Pushkin! (Used in the sense of "no one").

But Vasily Pupkin is "somebody, but not me."

At present, this character is a reflection of the mass Russian Internet user. The fact is that the World Wide Web has penetrated every cell of the post-Soviet space, the number of users of the network is growing every year, and the people are quite diverse and diverse. And there are among them some simpletons who consider themselves to be beaten by experts in certain spheres and who like to talk about it. They were dubbed by Vasilii Pupkin.

What kind is he?

In fact, the users of the network created Vasya Pupkin in their own image. Therefore, it constantly evolves, like its creators: its values change, thinking transforms, it acquires new qualities.

Vasily Pupkin is active. He likes to puumnichat on all sorts of forums, he will never miss the opportunity to insert his five cents into a discus. Although actually a bit silly, but absolutely harmless. He lives according to the laws of network culture, supports average values.

Sometimes Vasilii Pupkin means an arrogant writer, critic or political scientist, who is 100% sure of his rightness. Although even from the very combination of the name and surname, it will smash through provinciality. What can I say, if naive simpletons, which are easily used for their own benefit, are popularly called Vasilissa. Often they play the same role in anecdotes.

Also this virtual character is sometimes used to impersonate his "not-self," rewarding him with negative qualities and primitive thinking, which betray the one who opposes himself and Washu Pupkin. For example, you can often hear in the home such dialogues: "I will not take this. Let Vasya Pupkin buy this." This is the name of the collective class of those individuals who are considered worse or lower than themselves, loved ones.

The origin of the folkloric character of Vasi Pupkin is ambiguous. Some associate his surname with the word "navel," that is to say, this man inspired himself that he was the navel of the earth. The latter even ascribe to it historical roots: they say, there was such an unsuccessful rhyme for Vasily Pushkin, a relative of Alexander Sergeyevich, but he was not fit for versification and for a candle. That is why they twisted his name in jest to emphasize the absurdity of his claims to the pedestal in the sphere of high poetry. Still others are sure that by his appearance this hero is associated with the author of the textbook on arithmetic of the times of Tsarist Russia, but about this later. In addition, Vasisualiy Pupkin (also known as Vasya Pupkin) is sometimes also awarded the patronymic Alibabaevich (from the film "Gentlemen of Fortune").

Why has it caught on

It is interesting that, unlike other common nouns, this is written not with a lowercase letter, but with a capital letter, creating the illusion of the real existence of such a person, and not just a collective image.

Russians are a nation that likes to laugh at themselves. Vasily Pupkin is the product of such self-irony. Even a combination of a simple name and a majestic surname creates a comic effect.

Among other things, it is convenient. His name and surname help to express the whole concept, characterize someone or simply replace the usual username (user name).

It is estimated that almost every second user of the network calls himself Vasya Pupkin, when registering on some site. This is an anonymous self-name.

Outside the Web

This folklore product has expanded its habitat range and has stepped beyond the Internet pages. He is often mentioned in his speeches by politicians, referring to a whole class of commoners, a conditional image of the bearer of public opinion. This reflects the indulgent attitude of the higher-level intelligentsia towards the people, and precisely to the Russian people. Dagestan or Ossetian Vasya Pupkinym tongue does not turn to call.

In the army you can hear: "Sergeant Vasya Pupkin is ready for combat service!" And the like. That is, this name and surname have long been used as an example of representation.

Vasily Pupkin "Arithmetic"

If you believe in the existence of a teacher of arithmetic, who published a textbook for church and parish schools with the notorious tasks of reservoir capacity, it becomes clear where his modern namesake "legs grow" from. Although the relationship between them is difficult to establish. True, for some reason, there is no such textbook anywhere in the libraries, there are no records about its existence in the archives of the record, it is known only from stories of old people who went to church parochial schools in their distant childhood. Therefore, we can assume that this book - a textbook by Vasily Pupkin - is just a replicated myth and nothing more.

Analogues in other languages

Such specimen specimens are not a phenomenon of purely Russian folklore. For example, in English vocabulary there is a certain John Doe. Initially, the so-called male plaintiff in the lawsuit, if the real name is unknown or anonymous. The defendant was named Richard Rowe. Now John Doe - a pseudonym, denoting the unidentified body of a man in judicial practice. If we were talking about the same body of a woman, then she is given the name of Jane Doe. The child is called Baby Dow. Also, under such fictitious names, patients are recorded in hospitals that are unable to name their real name because of coma or amnesia.

A similar role is played by Mr. Smith. True, his name and surname are used in the broader meaning of "anonymous" or "typical Englishman."

In America, there is a folklore character - Joe-Six-Pack (Joe Six-Banok). This is a representative of the working profession, not particularly burdened by the intellect, who has the habit of letting in just that amount of beer.

Real Vasya Pupkin

But are many of the namesake of this virtual hero living in the real world? At first glance it seems that there should be at least a couple of dozen. On this occasion, even studies were carried out, and it turned out that this surname is very rare for the Russian society. Found only about fifty representatives of the Pupkin, and then among them there is only one Vasily, who lives in the Saratov region. What his name deserved such popularity, he does not know.

Although this image is fictional, it lives in each of us a little bit. So, who is Vasya Pupkin? He truly is the hero of our time. It's sad, but what time, such and heroes.