Laughter permitted. Andrey Astvatsaturov

Abstract

The article examines the prose of the Saint-Petersburg-based philologist and writer A. Astvatsaturov: in focus are its key motifs, images, and archetypes. E. Shcheglova points out that without any risk of missing an important insight into the protagonist’s psyche, a reader is free to disregard the books’ chronological order — their protagonist remains the same, be it in the inaugural People in the Nude [Lyudi v golom] (2009), or in the latest Don’t Feed or Touch the Pelicans [Ne kormite i ne trogayte pelikanov] (2019), or the two novels published in between, Skunkamera [Skunskamera] (2010) and Autumn in My Pockets [Osen v karmanakh] (2015). The image of the protagonist — a world-weary, fickle, and spoilt descendant of generations of intellectuals — becomes the principal subject of Shcheglova’s study. Her analysis of Astvatsaturov’s writings seeks to detect when the image directly corresponds to the narrator’s true self, and when it is merely a disguise. While recognizing the masterful execution of the novels, Shcheglova nevertheless remarks on their facetiousness and lack of variety — inevitable consequences of the writer’s known fondness for the genre of anekdot.