Who’s holding up the sky? On Rymba, a novel by A. Bushkovsky

The article deals with A. Bushkovsky’s novel Rymba that goes beyond the topics typical of Russian North prose. Rather than limiting himself to admiring nature and Russian character, the author portrays the northern Russian village of Rymba in the larger context of the country’s mentality, history, m...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Zhuchkova A.V.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:Russian
Published: Автономная некоммерческая организация Редакция журнала критики и литературоведения Вопросы литературы
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Online Access:https://repository.rudn.ru/records/article/record/67485/
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Summary:The article deals with A. Bushkovsky’s novel Rymba that goes beyond the topics typical of Russian North prose. Rather than limiting himself to admiring nature and Russian character, the author portrays the northern Russian village of Rymba in the larger context of the country’s mentality, history, mythology, and gender politics. In the novel, myth clashes with reality, history with the present day, and an individual with the state. The critic draws a comparison between the novel and the traditions of village prose and Russian North prose. In particular, Bushkovsky’s Rymba is discussed alongside V. Rasputin’s Farewell to Matyora [ Proshchanie s Matyoroy ] and R. Senchin’s The Flood Zone [ Zona zatopleniya ]. The novel’s central question is: what keeps the Russian world afloat? Depicting the Christian faith as such a bulwark, Bushkovsky links atheism with the social and spiritual roles played by contemporary men and women. The critic argues, however, that the reliance on Christianity in the novel verges on an affectation. The book’s main symbol is a drowning hawk: it perishes despite people’s efforts to save it. Статья посвящена роману А. Бушковского «Рымба». Автор статьи соотносит роман с жанровыми традициями деревенской и северной прозы. Образ северной русской деревни в романе развернут в историческом, мифологическом и гендерном аспектах. Здесь встречаются реальность и миф, история и современность, личность и государство. Центральный вопрос романа - почему русский мир еще держится на плаву. А. Бушковский стремится подставить ему опору - христианскую веру, а проблему безверия связывает с социальными и духовными ролями мужчин и женщин в современном мире.