THE EXECUTIONER’S GESTURE, I.E. BODY MARKED BY THE HISTORY (OBLIVION BY SERGEI LEBEDEV) Cover Image

ЖЕСТ ПАЛАЧА ИЛИ ТЕЛО КЛЕЙМЕННОЕ ИСТОРИЕЙ (ПРЕДЕЛ ЗАБВЕНИЯ СЕРГЕЯ ЛЕБЕДЕВА)
THE EXECUTIONER’S GESTURE, I.E. BODY MARKED BY THE HISTORY (OBLIVION BY SERGEI LEBEDEV)

Author(s): Bożena Zoja Zilborowicz
Subject(s): Novel, Russian Literature
Published by: Polskie Towarzystwo Rusycytyczne
Keywords: Sergei Lebedev; Sigmund Freud; Elias Canetti; executioner; body memory; body language;

Summary/Abstract: The novel Oblivion (2010) by Sergei Lebedev (born in 1981) — the subject of our analysis — is one of the first literary examples of a new trend in a Russian memorial discourse, so far focused solely on commemorating the victims of the Stalinist regime and ignoring the figures of executioners in a complete silence. By breaking the social and cultural taboos, the writer creates a hero — a former torturer of the regime whose criminal nature is revealed through the practices of a bodily memory. The purpose of this article is to semantically analyse the executioner’s body language (i.e., gestures, facial expressions, eyesight, silence). Lebedev’s concentration on bodily and physiological aspects makes it possible to unmask a carefully hidden biography of the torturer.

  • Issue Year: 2022
  • Issue No: 180
  • Page Range: 114-133
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: Russian
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