Journeying in Russian Space

Abstract

This essay explores the interrelationship between space and identity in contemporary Russian literature. The focus lies on the metaphorical meanings of travelling as a way of constructing post-Soviet Russianness as it appears in Natal′ja Ključarëva's novel Rossija: obščij vagon. The metaphorical meanings embedded in a journey of Nikita, Ključarëva's hero on the move, in the geographical space of today's Russia are juxtaposed with the legendary train travel in Venedikt Erofeev's novel Moskva-Petuški.

This exploration will start from a brief look at the significance of space in the constitution of Russian national identity and worldview. Then it moves to the introduction of the two main theoretical frameworks, Jurij Lotman's semiotic theory of literary space and geocriticism, which will be applied in the analysis of the literary texts. Apart from tracking the metaphoric articulations of space and travel in Ključarëva's and Erofeev's novels, they will also be placed into the Russian tradition of literary train trips. The main question addressed here is how the implied worldviews concerning Russianness and the path of Russia are constructed and communicated as spatial categories and metaphors in the mentioned narratives, in which spatial reference with metaphoric significance obviously plays a crucial role.

Keywords:

• Space
• Russianness
• Lotman
• train travel
• Ključarëva
• Erofeev