Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The Gulag Archipelago, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, first published in 1973, exposes the Soviet repressive system through a polyphonic narrative, constructed from over two hundred letters from former zeks and the author's own experience in the Gulags. The work gives voice to those who lived in the camps, establishing a constant dialogue with the official version of Soviet history at the time and constructing historical truth from the testimony of witnesses. This article analyzes how Solzhenitsyn employs polyphony, according to Mikhail Bakhtin's concept, in the construction of an epic novel resulting from an artistic investigative experiment, which relies on a hybrid narrator, both monophonic and polyphonic. Additionally, it explores the role of polyphonic narration in the representation of traumatic events, in light of Walter Benjamin's reflections on the decline of narrative.
Source: RUS (São Paulo)
Author: Lorena Lopes Silva
Institution: Universidade Federal do Ceará
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4405111371