Blurred lines between non-fiction and fiction in contemporary prose about the Great Patriotic War
https://doi.org/10.26907/2782-4756-2025-81-3-66-73
Abstract
The paper analyzes the lines between non-fiction and fiction in contemporary prose about the Great Patriotic War. The main research question involves exploring the possibility and the scope of a “contemporary” view on the heroic events of the past. In contemporary Russian literature, there is a tendency towards blurring the lines between non-fiction and fiction. On the one hand, it is due to influence of postmodernism. On the other hand, the understanding of a fact is changing under the pressure of “new sincerity”, alternative reality, and tolerance. This is confirmed by the contemporary prose dedicated to the Great Patriotic War. The authors know about the war from books, memoirs, and films. Secondary perception of the war events allows writers to treat a historical plot as fiction, boldly and freely. The writers’ goal is to penetrate into the war philosophy and psychology, the existential nature of evil, and to understand the “soul’s dialectics” of man in war. The dominant feature of the Great Patriotic War prose is pacifism.
About the Author
G. M. Altynbaeva
Saratov Chernyshevsky State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Altynbaeva Gulnara Monerovna, Doctor of Philology,
83 Astrakhanskaya Str., Saratov, 410012
References
1. Literatura i voina: konferentszal (2000) [Literature and War: A Conference Hall]. Znamya. No. 5, pp. 3– 13. (In Russian)
2. Uroki Viktora Nekrasova i sovremennaya rossiiskaya voennaya proza (2016) [Viktor Nekrasov’s Lessons and Modern Russian Military Prose]. Znamya. No.10, pp. 174–188. (In Russian)
3. Astaf'ev, V. (1994). Proklyaty i ubity: roman [Damned and Killed: A Novel]. Novyj mir. No. 10–12; Astaf'ev V. (1998). Veselyi soldat [The Merry Soldier]. Novyi mir. No. 5–6; Astaf'ev V. (2001). Zatesi [Zatesy]. Astaf'ev V. P. (2001). Pechal'nyi detektiv. Izbrannoe [The Sad Detective. Selected Works]. 832 p. Pp. 121–824. Moscow, Eksmo. (In Russian)
4. Bykov, V. (1999). Politruk Kolomiets. “Katyusha”. Polkovodets: Rasskazy [Political Commissar Kolomiets. “Katyusha”. The Commander: Stories]. Zvezda. No. 5, pp. 5–20; Bykov V. (1999). Ochnaya stavka. Dovzhik: rasskazy [Confrontation. Dovzhik: Stories]. Znamya. No. 7, pp. 31–56; Bykov V. (2001). Boloto: povest' [The Swamp: A Novel]. Druzhba narodov. No. 7, pp. 7–33. (In Russian)
5. Bogomolov, V. (2014). “Zhizn' moya, il' ty prisnilas' mne...” [“My Life, Did I Just Have Dreams of You...”]. 880 p. Moscow, Klub 36,6. (In Russian)
6. Granin, D. (2003). Po tu storonu: povest' [On the Other Side: A Story]. Druzhba Narodov. No. 1, pp. 8–26; Listopad [Leaf Fall]. Zvezda. No. 1–2; on zhe (2011). Moi leitenant: roman [My Lieutenant: A Novel]. 288 p. Moscow, Eksmo-Press. (In Russian)
7. Solzhenitsyn, A. (2005). Voennoe [Military]. 464 p. Moscow, Amfora. (In Russian)
8. Chetyre shaga ot voiny: sbornik (2010) [Four Steps from War: A Collection]. Sost. V. Levental'. 360 p. St. Petersburg, Limbus Press; OOO “Izdatel'stvo K. Tublina”. (In Russian)
9. Boyashov, I. (2008). Tankist, ili “Belyi tigr” [Tanker, or “The White Tiger”]. 224 p. St. Petersburg, Limbus-Press. (In Russian)
10. Gelasimov, A. (2009). Stepnye bogi [The Steppe Gods]. 384 p. Moscow, Eksmo. (In Russian)
11. Ivanov, A. (2023). Teni tevtonov [The Shadows of the Teutons]. 384 p. Moscow, RIPOL klassik. (In Russian)
12. Ilichevskii, A. (2014). Prosodiya mira. Korotkaya proza [Prosody of the World. Short Prose]. Novyi mir. No. 12, pp. 74–127. (In Russian)
13. Stavetskii, V. (2016). Kvartira [An Apartment]. Znamya. No. 5, pp. 5–54. (In Russian)
14. Yakhina, G. (2015). Vintovka [A Rifle]. Oktyabr'. No. 5, pp. 73–80. (In Russian)
15. Gel'fer, G. (2012) Soldat bezhal iz plena [The Soldier Escaped from Captivity]. SlovoWord. No. 74. URL: https://magazines.gorky.media/slovo/2012/74/soldat-bezhal-iz-plena.html (accessed: 05.05.2025). (In Russian)
16. Kaledin, S. (2009). Pochemu proigrali voinu [Why the War Was Lost]. 256 p. Moscow, PROZAiK. (In Russian)
17. Abuzyarov, I. (2012). Krai vechnozelenykh pomidorov [The Land of Evergreen Tomatoes]. Novyi mir. No. 4, pp. 51–62. (In Russian)
18. Armand, E. (2005). Veteran [The Veteran]. Otechestvennye zapiski. No. 4(25). URL: https://stranaoz.ru/2005/4/veteran (accessed: 05.05.2025). (In Russian)
19. Buida, Y. (2000). U koshki devyat' smertei: povestvovanie v rasskazakh [The Cat Has Nine Deaths: A Narrative in Stories]. Novyi mir. No. 5, pp. 7–44. (In Russian)
20. Viner, Y. (2012). Lyubov' k yazykam (iz tsikla “Byloe i vydumki”) [Love of Languages (from the series “The Past and Fiction”)]. Novyi mir. No. 11, pp. 9–36. (In Russian)
21. Dragunskaya, K. (2011). Kurtka Vonneguta [A Vonnegut Jacket]. Novyi mir. No. 5, pp. 119–122. (In Russian)
22. Kochergin, E. (2004). Piterskie bylichki [St. Petersburg Tales]. Znamya. No. 8, pp. 107–117. (In Russian)
23. Sokolovskaya, N. (2011). Motsart v tri popoludni: malen'kaya povest' [Mozart at Three in the Afternoon: A Short Story]. Novyi mir. No. 2, pp. 62–75. (In Russian)
24. Tuchinskaya, S. (2014). Vechnyi propusk [An Eternal Pass]. Zvezda. No. 8, pp. 7–14. (In Russian)
25. Khafizov, O. (2013). Gibel' tsyplenka [The Death of a Chicken]. Novyi mir. No. 12, pp. 78–85. (In Russian)
26. Shargunov, S. (2012). Skandal [A Scandal]. Novyi mir. No. 3, pp. 98–104; on zhe (2011). Kak ya uvolil druga: rasskazy [How I Fired a Friend: Stories]. Novyi mir. No. 2, pp. 51–58. (In Russian)
27. Samsonov, S. A. (2017). Sokolinyi rubezh [The Falcon’s Frontier]. 704 p. Moscow, Ripol-Klassik. (In Russian)
28. Sokolov, G. (2014). Dushi voiny [Souls of War]. Novyi Bereg. No. 44. URL: https://magazines.gorky.media/bereg/2014/44/dushivojny.html (accessed: 05.05.2025). (In Russian)
29. “Pervym delom samolety!” [“First of All, the Planes!”] A. Barenberga (Moscow, Eksmo-Press, 2012. 416 p.), “My iz budushchego: Chernye sledopyty” [“We Are from the Future: Black Pathfinders”] A. Shevtsova (Moscow, Amfora, 2010. 190 p.), “Esli vchera voina…” [“If Yesterday Was a War...”] O. Tarugina (Moscow, Eksmo, 2012. 416 p.) ili “Popytka vozvrata” [“An Attempt to Return”] V. Konyushevskogo (Moscow, AST, 2019. 992 p.), ili takie fil'my, kak “My iz budushchego”, “Tuman”, “Rubezh”, “Blindazh” i dr. [“We Are from the Future”, “Fog”, “The Frontier”, “A Dugout”, etc.]. (In Russian)
30. Okudzhava, B. Sh. (2002). Ya pishu istoricheskii roman [I Am Writing a Historical Novel]. Okudzhava B. Sh. Nadezhdy malen'kii orkestrik: Lirika (50-e–70-e) [Hope’s Little Orchestra: Lyrics (50s – 70s)]. 320 p. Pp. 262–264. Ekaterinburg, U-Faktoriya. (In Russian)
31. Astaf'ev, V. (2001). Trofeinaya pushka. Zhestokie romansy: rasskazy [A Trophy Gun. Cruel Romances: Stories]. Znamya. No.1, pp. 21–43; on zhe (2001) Svyazistka [The Radiowoman]. Novyi mir. No. 7, pp. 7–34. (In Russian)
32. Bykov, V. (2001). Na bolotnoi stezhke [On the Swamp Path]. Zvezda. No. 8, pp. 6–21; on zhe (2001). Boloto [The Swamp]. Druzhba narodov. No. 7, pp. 7–33; on zhe (2002). Korotkaya pesnya [A Short Song]. Druzhba narodov. No. 4, pp. 70–82. (In Russian)
33. Alekseeva, N. (2024). Polunoshchnitsa: roman [Midnight Female: A Novel]. 409 p. Moscow, AST, Redaktsiya Eleny Shubinoi. (In Russian)
34. Shipov, Ya., svyashch. (2012). “Raiskie khutora” i drugie rasskazy [“Paradise Farms” and Other Stories]. 624 p. 2-e izd. Moscow, izd-vo Sretenskogo monastyrya. (In Russian)
Review
For citations:
Altynbaeva G.M. Blurred lines between non-fiction and fiction in contemporary prose about the Great Patriotic War. Philology and Culture. 2025;(3):66-73. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.26907/2782-4756-2025-81-3-66-73
Views:
33
Email this article 