Evangelical Counsels in the materialistic society (based on Oleg Volkov’s novel “Sinking into Darkness”) Cover Image

Евангельские добродетели в бездуховном социуме (роман О. В. Волкова «Погружение во тьму»)
Evangelical Counsels in the materialistic society (based on Oleg Volkov’s novel “Sinking into Darkness”)

Author(s): Yana A. Yufereva
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Russian Literature, Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Theory of Literature
Published by: Петрозаводский государственный университет
Keywords: “Sinking into Darkness”; prison camp prose; moral laws; Evangelical Counsels; righteous men; Oleg Volkov;

Summary/Abstract: The significance of this research paper derives from the little coverage of the poetics of Volkov’s prison camp prose. The article deals with the analysis of the role of the Evangelical Counsels in forming of the moral image of a Soviet citizen and the ideology of the socialist system in Oleg Volkov’s autobiographic novel “Sinking into Darkness” (1987). The research paper examines the peculiarities of transformation of human’s spiritual state under conditions of the totalitarian system and camp confinement. The images of righteous men, bearers of Christian virtues, their place and function in the society of that time are analyzed. It has also been ascertained that the Evangelical Counsels are represented by Volkov as the most important base of any political and social system, as a measure of human spirituality and a reason for country’s spiritual renovation, the crucial role in which belongs to the community of believers. Some positive experience of familiarization with the moral ups under conditions of the unfreedom of a totalitarian society, more specifically the prison camp can be fixed. This historical movement is defined as the Way of the Cross, which leads to the spiritual renovation of Russia.

  • Issue Year: 15/2017
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 122-134
  • Page Count: 13
  • Language: Russian