(Nie)dyskretny urok socrealizmu (Michaił Jelizarow, Bibliotekarz)

Abstract

The article is devoted to, so far, the most popular novel by Mikhail Elizarov The Librarian. The author is mostly interested in dynamics and specifics of mass psychosis as a reflection of the society’s state in the face of absolute identity emptiness. The main problem for the characters is the loss of security and inner harmony, hence they have been allured by socialist realism past shown in novels to such a degree, that they are willing to die for it. According to the author, this issue concerns not only the old generation of Russians, but also the younger one – thirty-year-olds, who started their adolescence along with the collapse of communism.