Райские мотивы в рассказах Варлама Шаламова

Abstract

The article examines functions of 'paradise' and 'hell' archetypes in the manifestation of a new human experience that is positioned as unique. The works of Varlam Shalamov are analyzed in the article in comparison with Dante's Divine Comedia. "Gold hills" of paradise correlate in Shalamov's with gold mines killing prisoners of the GULAG. Motifs of paradise undergo materialization, which, in turn, leads to their inversion: paradise transforms in hell. The main problem discussed in the article is a problem of a specific language designed by Shalamov for the depiction of concentration camps. This language reflected the writer's pursuit of the two contradictory goals simultaneously: to diminish the lexical capabilities of word and to enrich its semantic power.