Soviet fiction on World War II and contemporary values: The case of Boris Vasil\u27ev

When we study the history of the artistic portrayal of an historical event, such as World War II, we are really studying the changing perceptions of that event. These perceptions form the basis of cultural values, which in turn play a role in the formulation of national identity. This dissertation examines the work of one prominent Soviet war writer , Boris Vasil\u27ev, as the basis for a discussion of the literary portrayal of World War II in official Soviet fiction, and of how this theme operates in mass culture. Operating from the assumption that Vasil\u27ev is so popular because a broad spectrum of Soviet society can identify with the values embedded in his works, I suggest that we can ascertain those values by analyzing the intermedia transposition from fiction into film of the author\u27s two most famous works, sk10 sk25 sk30 sk35 and sk30 sk30 sk30. This analysis shows that the values are illuminated when we explore the boundaries between the different media versions: what remains the same when a work of fiction is transposed into film, and just as importantly, what changes occur (to insure that the same messages are conveyed in both versions), not so much in a technical sense, but through reorientation and reinterpretation. Also included in this dissertation is an overview of official Soviet fiction on World War II which serves as a contextual background for my discussion of Boris Vasil\u27ev. A representative work from each of the following periods is analyzed: 1939-43; 1943-47; 1947-Twentieth Party Conference in 1956; 1956-late 1960\u27s; 1970\u27s-early 1980\u27s; early 1980\u27s-present. The boundaries of these periods are more than just chronological and are determined largely by the tension between official Socialist Realist doctrine and the various approaches taken by writers to differing perceptions of the truth during the post-war years. It is in this context that I examine the history of the war theme in Soviet fiction in general, and the works of Boris Vasil\u27ev in particular