Struggling to Narrate: Memoir vs. Memory of the Stalin Era

• In Event: Crafting Memory: Where Writers [don’t] Meet Readers

Abstract

This paper will examine memoirs of the Stalin era, assessing their veracity by identifying the memoirist’s hidden (and perhaps not fully conscious) assumptions. Writings to be considered come from members of the Leningrad literary community who were born roughly between 1900–1910 and began their professional lives in the early 1930s as idealistic young komsomol’tsy. They include the literary critic Lev Levin and Mirra Lilina (sister of literary official Anatolii Gorelin), as well as memoir-adjacent writings of Ol’ga Berggol’ts. In discussing authorial motivation and narrative technique, this paper will also pose the question of whether and when a memoir should be considered an artistic text.

Author

• Carol J. Any, Trinity College Dublin (Ireland)