MEMORY AND RETRIBUTION THEMES IN THE EPITAPH BY VARLAM SHALAMOV AND THE KOLYMA BALLAD BY VALENTINE PORTUGALOV

Чеслав Горбачевский

Кафедра русского языка и литературы Южно-Уральский государственный университет Челябинск

Abstract

This article discusses the themes of memory and retribution in documentary
and literary texts (different genres) of two Kolyma inmates. The memory theme
of the people tortured in “Kolyma planet” unites texts written by Shalamov and
Portugalov. Both authors express similar thoughts in different ways, employing different
genres and styles. Shalamov and Portugalov are convinced that these crimes, i.e.,
deaths of a great number of innocent people in Kolyma forced labour camps can never
be forgotten, unpunished and treated as if the “facts never happened”.

Keywords:

Kolyma, theme of memory, narrator, semantic field