Experience of creating an alternative history in A. Sobolev’s novel “Griffins Guard the Lyre”

Abstract

The study examines the phenomenon of creating an alternative history in Alexander Sobolev’s novel “Griffins Guard the Lyre”. This technique in Russian literature is not only a means of writer’s fantasy, but also a tool for reflecting on the past and the future. Its popularity is due to the desire to rethink national identity by answering historical questions and offering readers alternative paths for the country’s development. The purpose of the research is to study the novel “Griffins Guard the Lyre” as a tool for dealing with trauma, ideology, and national mythology. The material used is the plot of the novel “Griffins Guard the Lyre”. The comparison of world events with the text of Alexander Sobolev’s novel leads to the discovery of conceptual differences. Taking them into account, we can say that the author under study seeks to recreate an unlived Russian history, different in texture from the reader’s usual experience. Intertwining real and fictional elements of the world, the author of the novel creates not only an alternative history, but also the culture of the Russian people.