Shulga, J; (2013) Memory, History, Testimony: The Representation of Trauma in Iurii Dombrovskii’s and Vasilii Grossman’s Writing. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This thesis is concerned with interrogating the major fiction of Vasilii Grossman and Iurii Dombrovskii in the context of trauma theory, identifying the ways in which the theory illuminates the representation of catastrophic events in Russian fiction and at the same time probing the limits of trauma theory itself. Trauma theory has often been deemed to be a “Western” concept, and its applicability to the Soviet experience has been questioned. Recently the concept has gained some ground in Soviet studies as well. Focusing on the relationship between an event and its traumatic impact, I investigate the narratives that are created about this relationship, with a particular focus on identity and unrepresentability, two concepts which are central to both trauma and Soviet studies. In my research I have found that the relevance of trauma theory can be challenged but not rejected in its entirety. The fiction of Grossman and Dombrovskii allows a creative approach to collective experience, which enables the event to be processed in unexpected ways.

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