The Macedonian Officer, a Novel from Modern Life

The article examines Andrei Platonov’s unfinished novel The Macedonian Officer. A Novel from Ancient Times, which launches Platonov’s so-called eastern cycle. The novel is set in the 4th century BC, against the background of Alexander the Great’s conquests in Central Asia, but in the imaginary country of Kutemalia and with a number of details from modern life. Some of the characters are real historical figures: Alexander the Great, Callisthenes the chronicler of his campaigns, Aristotle and Plato. Platonov endows others with names from ancient history: Firs, Potamon, Phersalia, Glaucus, and Clusium. There are two characters to whom Platonov gives invented names: King Ozni of Kutemalia and Ophria, a slave from the silkworm plantations. The characters with ancient background as well as features of Greek history in the novel’s plot create an illusion of historicity. However, an analysis of the historical aspects of the plot, including the names from ancient history, allows us to conclude that the novel is not so much historical as pseudo-historical. A comparison of the “fantastic” scenes of the novel with the facts of ancient and modern history shows us that the novel’s “ancient” component is an artistic device, allowing the author to portray modernity under the guise of antiquity. The article examines the sources of the narrative strategy and the novel’s image system, conceived by the author as a caricature.