СВИДЕТЕЛЬСТВО ПРАВДЫ В КНИГЕ БОРИСА ШИРЯЕВА НЕУГАСИМАЯ ЛАМПАДА

Abstract

In the 20th century, all the periodicals and literary journals were con-trolled by the USSR Union of Writers (Union of Soviet Writers) and thus literary works dealing with everyday life of Soviet forced-labour camp prisoners could only be published abroad. Once released from the camps, many Russian authors emigrated to the West where they could produce their literary works about life in the Gulag without fear of the totalitarian regime and its censors. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich – Alexandr Solzenitsyn’s literary contribution to Gulag writings – proved to be a milestone in the history of Russian literature. At that time Gulag literature had already developed its own plot structure and unique voice. Novels set in the Gulag offer grim portrayals of the enslaved people, of ap-palling realities of life in the camps, and the methods used to dehumanise people in the Soviet reality. The antithesis of a prison – the governor appears in every work set in the Gulag.
Boris Shiryaev – a writer and poet; author of the novel on the Solovki prison camp, in which he provided a graphic account of the brutal reality of the camp life. However, unlike many other authors tackling the subject of Gulags, people depicted by Shiryaev remained unbroken despite the monstrous reality of the camp. Through their perseverance and patience they set an example for other inmates.