The image of a military city in 21st-century Russian literature (based on the material of "Volunteer Romance" by Zakhar Prilepin)

• Published in: Филология: научные исследования no. 8; pp. 1 - 13
• Main Authors: Sharonova, Elena Alexandrovna, Tarasov, Anton Vadimovich
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.08.2025
• ISSN: 2454-0749; 2454-0749
• DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2025.8.75381

The subject of the study is the image of a military city in 21st-century Russian literature, explored through the material of "The Militiaman's Romance" by Zakhar Prilepin. The theme of the city, the image of the city, the semantics and metaphysics of the city, the city's space, the city and the natural environment, the home and the city, the human in the city—these are issues traditionally raised by literary studies. Among the questions that make up the urban problematics is, of course, the issue of artistic understanding and description of the military city. Contemporary literature, depicting the unfolding story in Donbas before our eyes, inevitably creates an image of a city at war. It is through the description of the military city that Zakhar Prilepin introduces both heroes and readers to the territory of war; it is through the confrontation with a wounded or destroyed city that the hero and the reader become acquainted with war as the main character. The writer shows how the life of a city changes as war approaches or has already entered it. Its internal state changes; it ceases to perceive itself as a large, confident organism; it loses its pre-war integrity, and thus its familiar appearance transforms, the seemingly unchanging outlines and internal state disappear. The study employs cultural-historical, comparative-historical methods, and the method of holistic analysis of the artistic work, creating a broad problematic field for the comparative study of "The Militiaman's Romance" and other works dedicated to the events in Donbas. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that the image of the military city in "The Militiaman's Romance" by Zakhar Prilepin is examined holistically for the first time. As a result of the research, we concluded that the image of the military city gradually acquires integrity, gains character, and is filled with adequate characters (according to Yu. M. Lotman, "the city turns out to be both the cause and the creator of its history, mythology, literature, and simultaneously their consequence and creation. At the same time, in each link of the semiotic mechanism, dynamic relationships emerge rather than lifeless unequivocal connections, implying the possibility of choice and a certain degree of unpredictability"). The city is a meaningful and meaning-generating space, possessing exceptional uniqueness due to being endowed with historical destiny. The results of the study can be used in the examination of contemporary literature.