Russia between the East and the West: Searching for Identity in a Transitional Era (Based on the Material of the Russian Literary Tale of the 2000s – 2010s)
The essay focuses on the problem of national identity in the modern fairy tale for adult audience, on the example of texts by modern Russian writers (Alexander Kabakov, Andrey Stepanov, and Dmitry Glukhovsky). After analyzing what is common and what is different in the poetics of the fairy tales by the mentioned authors, as well as the strategies of portraying modern Russia in the transition period of Perestroika, I discuss the theme of the national identity in these texts and its meaning. The paper also highlights the properties of the contemporary fairy tale that addresses topical issues of the day. One of such properties is the national question, another one is the so-called “eternal question” concerning Russian civilization and its choice between the East and the West.