Images of Russia in the Prose of Yu. V. Mamleyev

The author of the article examines the dynamics of images of Russia in the works of art of Yu. V. Mamleyev. In the writer’s early works there is no refl ection on Russia as a historical and cultural whole. Mamleyev depicts the hidden world of Soviet marginals who undermine their consciousness with crimes and sexual deviations. The fear of death awakens the attraction to it and the desire of the heroes to know death, finding themselves in an uncertain state between life and death. The image of “external” Russia in Mamleyev’s early works is also deeply pathological and demonstrates all kinds of mental disorders among its inhabitants. The writer’s departure for emigration awakened an interest in artistic reflection on the present and future of Russia in him. Now madness and lack of depth (two-dimensionality) seem to the author to be its essential characteristics. The story “Reflection” captures this image of Russia, which has lost its cultural identity and is deprived of historical memory. After returning to his homeland, the writer’s work became increasingly marked by apocalyptic motifs, characteristic of the national cultural tradition. In the novel “After the End,” Mamleyev creates an image of Russia in the distant future after the End of the World. It is inhabited by creatures deprived of the image and likeness of God, and seized by all kinds of madness. Their existence is an existence between life and death. It’s unbearable. But there are only two ways to get out of it: either to disappear completely from all levels of reality, or to leave the divine Creation into the Abyss of Non-Existence, devoid of any potential. In both cases, this means the end of the Russian Idea, the end of Russia. The author’s inability to fi nd an artistic embodiment of a different, positive image and meaning of Russia’s existence forces him to turn to philosophical journalism, where he constructs his ideal of “eternal Russia.”