We are back to history. But this time it’s hardcore. The 2017 Russian Booker shortlist

Abstract

Devoted to contemporary Russian prose, the article considers the short-listed novels of the 2017 Russian Booker Prize and identifies their common characteristics, such as immersion into history, fascination with the aesthetics of violence, and dreaming in metaphors, etc. The critic notes that the latest shortlist of the Russian Booker turned out fairly versatile: in terms of the novels’ themes, style, and inner arrangement and structuring by the author. At the same time, they share something more than obsession with history: an enthusiasm for cruelty, violence, and, prominently, sadism. Perhaps not of the De Sade’s self-sufficient and self-centered variety, but while it may be naturally woven into the narrative fabric, it is just as creepy. The phenomenon may have roots in the violent outbursts of post-imperial and post-colonial wars, raging along Russia’s borders, both eastern and western, and bloodbaths tearing the country apart from the inside. Or was it called to life by the development logic of modern Russian prose, epitomized and recorded by the Booker selection? Linked together within a common context, these short but insightful reviews offer a convincing description of the trends typifying at least one particular year of modern Russian prose: 2017.