W poszukiwaniu samego siebie i utraconego sensu… – o bohaterze prozy Romana Sienczina (również w kontekście aktualnej sytuacji geopolitycznej)

Abstract

Roman Senchin (born 1971), a contemporary Russian writer, is regarded as a leading representative of the New Realism Trend in Russian literature and a “master” of social prose. The purpose of this article is to present Senchin’s artistic concept of creating a protagonist, and to show and discuss the distinguishing features and characteristics of Senchin’s “little man”/ “everyman”. Selected Senchin’s stories and the novel Rain in Paris (Дождь в Париже, 2018) are the subject of analysis in this paper. The article focuses on the main character of the novel, a 40-year-old man experiencing a midlife crisis. He is also involved in the painful process of self-reflection and reappraisal of his life. In conclusion, it can be said that mediocre, ordinary people, often losers, lonely, weak, apathetic, passive citizens remain in the centre of Senchin’s interest. Senchin’s characters perform their daily chores automatically, without emotional involvement, and are unable to (or do not want to) liberate themselves from this state of passivity and monotony.