An act as a form of psychological representation in prose about the era of the Great Terror (“Tulaev’s Case” by V. Serge and “Imaginary Quantities” by N. Narokov)

Abstract

The article deals with the consideration of the category of action – a fundamental one in the study of a literary character. Methodologically productive in this regard are the achievements of related humanities (psychology, sociology, philosophy) in understanding the individual and his relationship with the world. As a material for analysis, prose about the era of the Great Terror was chosen, which is especially representative from the viewpoint of the aesthetics of the author’s individual imprinting of the character in extreme conditions. Example of “Tulaev’s Case” by V. Serge and “Imaginary Quantities” by N. Narokov is used to consider the behavior types of several groups of characters: those with power, claiming to be free thinking and prisoners. An attempt is made to trace the correlation of the external and internal freedom of the characters in the conditions of totalitarianism, moving from figures with the greatest potential of possibilities to disenfranchised characters. In addition, attention is paid to the phenomenon of external and internal conformism as a product of the epoch, on the one hand, and the consequence of purely personal manifestations, on the other.