Soviet writer Vasilii Grossman has been renowned in the West as a dissident author of Life and Fate, which multiple sources, including The New York Times have called "arguably the greatest Russian novel of the 20th century." Grossman, however, was not a dissident, but an official state writer attempting to publish for a Soviet audience. Grossman's work was criticized by Soviets as being "too Jewish", while Jewish scholars have called it "not Jewish enough." And, despite his modern critical acclaim, little scholarship on Grossman exists. In my thesis, I explore these paradoxes. I argue that Grossman attempts to reinterpret traditional state ideas of Sovietness into a more inclusive, democratic version by creating heroes from traditionally marginalized groups. To do this, he reinterprets and inverts traditional tropes of the Socialist Realist genre. Genric limitations on his worldview, however, prevent this vision from being completely realized in the course of his work. I trace Grossman's work from his early short fiction to his Khruschev era novels and show how this trope develops during his career as a Soviet writer and citizen.

This thesis examines the recent emergence of corporeal protest art in Russia. Through analyses of cultural, social, and economic shifts in the post-Soviet Era, I observe how this corporeal turn reflects a significant cultural transition away from the literary text, which has traditionally held a role of major importance in Russian culture. Detailed analysis of the contemporary performances of Pussy Riot and Petr Pavlensky are conducted in order to elucidate the social and political causes and implications of such a shift. Manifestation of oppositional discourse on the site of the human body is understood theoretically through Giorgio Agamben’s biopolitics, Mikhail Bakhtin’s grotesque body, and Inke Arns’ and Sylvia Sasse’s theory of subversive affirmation. Interestingly, this artistic divergence has coincided with the rise of relative economic and social wellbeing in Russia – conditions that tend to foster the development of a burgeoning public sphere, now standing at odds with an increase in political repression. Oppositionists and protest artists are, therefore, exploring new and unconventional ways of expressing dissent. My study contextualizes these new methods of expression within the larger tradition of the cultural expression of political will, examining the ways in which these works are readable through Russian cultural norms and to whom they speak. / Graduate

This dissertation chronicles the discourse of sincerity in state published Soviet Russian literature and criticism from Stalin’s death in 1953 to 1970. It presents a means of reading sincerity as a literary device in fiction and poetry that corresponds to an understanding of sincerity as rhetoric. This view holds that sincerity is a socially determined effect of language and affect. As such, the dissertation begins by analyzing the valences of sincerity during the Thaw, exploring them in connection with writers of the Village Prose and Youth Prose movements as well as in the poetry of Evgenii Evtushenko. From this survey of different literary trends, a general framework of a shift from an essentialist to a performative conception of sincerity in Russian official literature is presented. This dissertation argues that there was a gradual process which saw authoritative discourse and a discourse of sincerity exist in tension with each other in the early Thaw before performativity seeped into sincerity rhetoric in the Youth Prose of the early ‘60s. An awareness of sincerity as rhetorical or performative language flourished in postmodernist literature and late Soviet underground art, creating a mode that was self-conscious of the impossibility of essential sincerity while still seeking a way to be sincere.

The desintegration of the USSR, the resulting release of censorship, and the related publication of earlier prohibited texts, as well as the new charakter of the book market entirely tranformed the shape of the literary field of the nineties. This thesis concerns itself with a specific segment of the professional literary production of this period. With its topic, this work aspires to contribute to the serious research of the little explored postcommunist period in the Russian literature. In order to assess and interpret the evolution of opininions in this period of time, the chosen method is the one of commented overview of literary criticism and of literary-theoretical texts published mainly between 1986 and 2000 in Russian publications (mostly in so-called "thick magazines"). The thesis focuses on studies interested in the work of the middle and younger generation of the Russian prose writers, and more precisely on studies concerning the structural aspects of the literary situation in the nineties. On the background of the specific cultural and social situation, the method of the ample commentary is an appropriate way regarding how to interpret the literary theorists' basis of thoughts and opinions, and at the same time how to affect these experts' relationship to the new tendencies in the...

O Diário escrito por Isaak Bábel, durante sua participação na guerra russo-polonesa de 1920, serviu de base para a sua obra mais importante Konármia ou O Exército de Cavalaria. A existência desse material permite entrever os bastidores da técnica criativa de um dos grandes mestres do conto russo do século XX, conforme foi visto na análise de alguns trechos do Diário, comparados com os de Konármia. No entanto, o Diário de 1920, de per si, não deixa de representar, hoje, uma obra com marcantes características literárias. Assim, o nosso objetivo foi, inicialmente, fazer uma tradução direta do Diário de Bábel, do russo para o português. A seguir, ao lado de sua breve biografia, uma análise e uma discussão de sua maneira de construir o que hoje é considerada uma obra literária. / The Diary written by Isaak Babel, during his participation in the Russian-Polish war of 1920, was the basis for his most important work Konarmia also called The Red Cavalry. The existence of this material allows us to foresee the backstage of the creative technique of one of the great Russian short story masters of the XX century, as we saw analysing some parts of the Diary and comparing them to the short stories of Konarmia. However, the 1920 Diary, is considered today by itself a literary work, with relevant artistic characteristics. Therefore, our goal was initially the direct translation of the Diary from Russian into Portuguese. Afterwords, beside his short biography, an analysis and discussion of his method of constructing the Diary as a literary piece.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar as transformações e o consequente declínio da noção de herói positivo na literatura russo-soviética a partir do período do degelo (1953-1964). Para isso, esta pesquisa irá se concentrar no estudo da construção das personagens em três obras significativas que representam essas mudanças: Zviózdnyi biliet (Bilhete para as estrelas) de Vassíli Aksiónov, Moskvá-Petuchkí (De Moscou a Petuchkí) de Venedíkt Eroféev e Andergraund, ili gerói nachego vrêmeni (Andergraund, ou um herói do nosso tempo) de Vladímir Makánin. Pretende-se, então, recuperar a trajetória desse herói, que encontra seu ápice na ideia de homem novo soviético, para determinar o conflito que se estabelece nas novas formas de representação promovidas por esses três autores, baseadas em inovações linguísticas, construção estética da subjetividade e individualidade, evidenciando o enfrentamento e a negação do status quo, bem como dos paradigmas da literatura oficial. Soma-se a isso o fato de tais inovações estarem associadas a personagens subversivas e marginalizadas, que indicam afastamento ou abandono dos ideais do herói positivo, pela atitude antiautoritária e rebelde (em Aksiónov); pelo inconformismo e vício (em Eroféev); e pelo cinismo e recusa das normas (em Makánin). Assim, espera-se contribuir para a compreensão de certos aspectos da literatura russa ligados à reapropriação e reconfiguração do passado traumático vinculado ao regime repressor e à perda de um projeto utópico. / The aim of this study is to analyze the transformations and the consequential fall of the notion of the positive hero in Russian Soviet literature since the period known as the Thaw (1953-1964). For this purpose, this research will focus its attention on the construction of the characters of three significant works that represent these changes: Zviózdnyi bilet by Vassili Aksionov, Moskvá-Petuchkí by Venedíkt Erofeev and Andergraund, ili geroi nachego vremeni by Vladimir Makanin. It is intended, thus to retrace the path of this hero, that reached its peak in the \"New Soviet man\", to determine the conflict established in the new forms of representation fomented by these three authors, based on linguistic innovations, aesthetic construction of subjectivity and individuality, showing the confrontation and denial of the status quo, as well as the paradigm of the official literature. Add to this the fact that these innovations are associated to subversive and marginalized characters, which indicated separation or abandonment of the high ideals involved in the positive hero, by the antiauthoritarian and rebellious conduct (as we see in Aksionov); by the unconformity and vices (in Erofeev); or by the cynicism and underground behavior (in Makanin). Thereby, it hopes to contribute to the understanding of certain aspects of Russian literature related to the process of reappropriation and reconfiguration of the traumatic past, tied to the oppressive regime and the loss of an utopic project.

O Diário escrito por Isaak Bábel, durante sua participação na guerra russo-polonesa de 1920, serviu de base para a sua obra mais importante Konármia ou O Exército de Cavalaria. A existência desse material permite entrever os bastidores da técnica criativa de um dos grandes mestres do conto russo do século XX, conforme foi visto na análise de alguns trechos do Diário, comparados com os de Konármia. No entanto, o Diário de 1920, de per si, não deixa de representar, hoje, uma obra com marcantes características literárias. Assim, o nosso objetivo foi, inicialmente, fazer uma tradução direta do Diário de Bábel, do russo para o português. A seguir, ao lado de sua breve biografia, uma análise e uma discussão de sua maneira de construir o que hoje é considerada uma obra literária. / The Diary written by Isaak Babel, during his participation in the Russian-Polish war of 1920, was the basis for his most important work Konarmia also called The Red Cavalry. The existence of this material allows us to foresee the backstage of the creative technique of one of the great Russian short story masters of the XX century, as we saw analysing some parts of the Diary and comparing them to the short stories of Konarmia. However, the 1920 Diary, is considered today by itself a literary work, with relevant artistic characteristics. Therefore, our goal was initially the direct translation of the Diary from Russian into Portuguese. Afterwords, beside his short biography, an analysis and discussion of his method of constructing the Diary as a literary piece.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar as transformações e o consequente declínio da noção de herói positivo na literatura russo-soviética a partir do período do degelo (1953-1964). Para isso, esta pesquisa irá se concentrar no estudo da construção das personagens em três obras significativas que representam essas mudanças: Zviózdnyi biliet (Bilhete para as estrelas) de Vassíli Aksiónov, Moskvá-Petuchkí (De Moscou a Petuchkí) de Venedíkt Eroféev e Andergraund, ili gerói nachego vrêmeni (Andergraund, ou um herói do nosso tempo) de Vladímir Makánin. Pretende-se, então, recuperar a trajetória desse herói, que encontra seu ápice na ideia de homem novo soviético, para determinar o conflito que se estabelece nas novas formas de representação promovidas por esses três autores, baseadas em inovações linguísticas, construção estética da subjetividade e individualidade, evidenciando o enfrentamento e a negação do status quo, bem como dos paradigmas da literatura oficial. Soma-se a isso o fato de tais inovações estarem associadas a personagens subversivas e marginalizadas, que indicam afastamento ou abandono dos ideais do herói positivo, pela atitude antiautoritária e rebelde (em Aksiónov); pelo inconformismo e vício (em Eroféev); e pelo cinismo e recusa das normas (em Makánin). Assim, espera-se contribuir para a compreensão de certos aspectos da literatura russa ligados à reapropriação e reconfiguração do passado traumático vinculado ao regime repressor e à perda de um projeto utópico. / The aim of this study is to analyze the transformations and the consequential fall of the notion of the positive hero in Russian Soviet literature since the period known as the Thaw (1953-1964). For this purpose, this research will focus its attention on the construction of the characters of three significant works that represent these changes: Zviózdnyi bilet by Vassili Aksionov, Moskvá-Petuchkí by Venedíkt Erofeev and Andergraund, ili geroi nachego vremeni by Vladimir Makanin. It is intended, thus to retrace the path of this hero, that reached its peak in the \"New Soviet man\", to determine the conflict established in the new forms of representation fomented by these three authors, based on linguistic innovations, aesthetic construction of subjectivity and individuality, showing the confrontation and denial of the status quo, as well as the paradigm of the official literature. Add to this the fact that these innovations are associated to subversive and marginalized characters, which indicated separation or abandonment of the high ideals involved in the positive hero, by the antiauthoritarian and rebellious conduct (as we see in Aksionov); by the unconformity and vices (in Erofeev); or by the cynicism and underground behavior (in Makanin). Thereby, it hopes to contribute to the understanding of certain aspects of Russian literature related to the process of reappropriation and reconfiguration of the traumatic past, tied to the oppressive regime and the loss of an utopic project.

The thesis reveals features of the creative manner of Bazhov embodied in style of narrations. The author describes Bazhov's appeal to the game strategy and its manifestation in the representation of space and time, in the images of narrations, in the movement of a plot and the use of game receptions in literature poetics. Game types in early and in late works of the writer are compared. Value of the game moment reveals during creation of an image of the author. / Диссертация раскрывает особенности творческой манеры Бажова, воплощенной в стиле сказов. Автор описывает обращение Бажова к игровой стратегии и ее проявление в организации пространства и времени, образах сказов, развитии сюжета и приемов игры. Сопоставляются игровые типы в раннем и в позднем творчестве писателя. Раскрывается значение игрового момента при создании образа автора.

Le poète arménien Yéghiché Tcharents (1897-1937) devient victime des répressions staliniennes des années 30. Tcharents est déjà un poète connu lorsque la révolution éclate en Russie. Il voit dans la révolution le sauveur de son peuple au destin tragique. Il croit aux idéaux humanistes de Lénine comme beaucoup de ses contemporains. Cependant, le pouvoir totalitaire de Staline change son regard politique. Sa poésie reflète ses inquiétudes. En 1933, le recueil de poèmes Livre du chemin, un compte-rendu de sa vision poétique de la construction de la nouvelle société, ainsi que de l’éducation de l’homme soviétique, est censuré. Il est publié à nouveau avec des modifications. Tcharents, le poète de tous les combats, ne parvient pas à cacher son désaccord, sa désillusion vis-à-vis du pouvoir politique. Il témoigne à travers sa poésie. Le système répressif ne le laisse plus en paix. Il est inculpé comme contre-révolutionnaire, trotskiste, nationaliste, terroriste. En juillet 1936, il est assigné à résidence. La poésie demeure l’unique espace où il pense et écrit librement. Malade et conscient de l’imminence de sa mort, il survit grâce à sa poésie, dans son univers de visions. L’argumentation de la thèse est construite sur l’analyse littéraire des textes du corpus : le Livre du chemin et les textes poétiques de 1935 à 1937 de Tcharents. Une étude concise du contexte historico-politique de sa poésie et une analyse littéraire de son œuvre avant 1933 sont aussi proposées, permettant de mieux percevoir la complexité des relations entre le poète-individu et son époque, et enfin, de réunir tous les éléments nécessaires de traduction faisant partie de l’objectif de cette étude doctorale. / The Armenian poet Yeghishe Charents (1897-1937) becomes victim of Stalin’s repressions in the Thirties. Charents is already known as a poet when the revolution bursts in Russia. He sees in the revolution the saver of his people with the tragic destiny. Like many of his contemporaries he believes in the humanistic ideals of Lenin. However, the totalitarian power of Stalin changes his political views. His poetry reflects his concerns. In 1933, the collection of poems Book of the way, a report of his poetic vision of the new society, as well as the education of the Soviet man, is censored. It is published with changes. Charents, the poet actively involved in a number of social issues, cannot hide his dissension and disillusion with respect to the political power. He bespeaks through his poetry. The repressive system does not leave him any more in peace. He is accused of being a contra-revolutionist, trotskyist, nationalist, terrorist. In July 1936, he is put under house arrest. Poetry remains the sole space where he thinks and writes freely. Ill and aware of the imminence of his death, he survives in his universe of visions thanks to his poetry.The argumentation of this doctoral thesis is built on the literary analysis of the texts in the corpus: the Book of the way and the poetic texts of 1935 to 1937. A concise study of the historical-political context of his poetry and a literary analysis of his work before 1933 are also proposed. This allows to better perceive the complexity of the relations between the poet-individual and his time and, finally joins all the elements necessary for the translation, which is an objective of this doctoral study.