The symbolism of the "wanderers" in the recent fiction of the brothers strugatsky
Date
2015-01-20
Authors
Elkounovitch, Dalia
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Abstract
The aim of this study is to present an interpretation of the symbolism of
"the Wanderers", a dominating motif in the science fiction of the
Strugatsky Brothers.
Among the variety of genres in Soviet literature of the 1960s there
appeared a new and unexpected specimen; dissident science fiction. The
Brothers undoubtedly played a leading role in the development of this new
variant of science fiction. Soon however it attracted the attention of the
Soviet censorship. By the mid 1970s the Brothers therefore had escaped
into the "literary underground", resorting to "Aesopian language", symbolic
cipher and other forms of cryptogram instead of engaging in an open and
unequal struggle with the censors. The Brothers clothed their anti-Marxist
and anti-Leninist ideas in complex and philosophically profound imagery,
resorting to codes which were not immediately accessible. Here we find the
main reason why one of the most important and frequent symbolic motifs of
the Brothers' texts - the motif of "the Wanderers and their super
civilization" - still is largely misunderstood.
This study is divided into an Introduction, three chapters and
Conclusions. The Introduction specifies aims and approaches, selection
criteria for texts and some features of critical reception. Chapter 1 offers a
brief survey and analysis of the main developments within Soviet science
fiction; particular attention Is given to the changes in the genre during the
1960s and the contribution of the Brothers to its development