Description
- Abstract:
- Research focus of this thesis examines the relationship between truth, reality and documentary film and literature in times of social upheaval during the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. I analyze this relationship across three genres: first, Svetlana Alexievich’s documentary prose; second, Nancy Ries’ academic work on litanies and laments during late perestroika; and third, Sergei Loznitsa’s films which explore the “border between documentary and feature cinema.” The nexus linking all three of these very different individuals, I argue, is their exploration of alternative discursive spaces, existing in opposition (or not) to official state discourse. Each of these figures, however, approach the act of documenting their narratives in different ways. Alexievich records interviews with people and transcribes their stories into a larger novel that deals with the great tragedies of the Soviet Union. Nancy Ries’ book Russian talk: Culture and Conversation during Perestroika (1997) focuses on everyday speech in the last years of the Soviet Union, from her perspective as a cultural anthropologist. Many of these narratives reflect uncertainty and hopelessness of this period, given their direct and indirect blaming of leaders and sometimes themselves for the increasing moral degradation of Soviet society. In the 21st century, Sergei Loznitsa operates in an entirely different context as his film Donbass challenges assumptions that the documentary quality of a film lends authenticity thanks to its apparent immediacy. I conclude that the assumed authenticity often afforded to documentary literature and films needs to be questioned, while also following one’s intuition and trust in finding the truths that matter to people. These new discursive spaces are a part of history that official narratives often ignore––one filled with grief, complicity, and unresolved trauma.
- Notes:
- Senior thesis (AB)--Brown University, 2025
- Concentration: Slavic Studies
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Citation
Rombaut-Enriquez, Guillaume,
"Narratives of Truth and Reality: Documentary Literature and Film during Soviet and post-Soviet Periods"
(2025).
Slavic Studies Theses and Dissertations.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://doi.org/10.26300/26jf-t316
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Slavic Studies Theses and Dissertations
Theses and Dissertations for the Slavic Studies department....