The road to adulthood ("June" by Dmitry Bykov)

Abstract

The paper analyses the coming-of-age process of Mikhail Gvirtsman, the main character of the first part of the novel June by Dmitry Bykov. It analyses his moral misdemeanours and growing tension between rational (social rules and moral principles) and irrational (aggressive, bodily) actions. The transformation of the character and his actions are interpreted via a set of factors that occur in the character’s life as a direct result of the story’s setting. The analysed character is directly influenced by a specific historical context and that is why the paper also briefly analyses fiction as a way of alternative interpretation of historical events, the way of historical memory is being fixed or (re)constructed in fiction. The novel, analysed mainly from the main character’s perspective, is therefore – through its explicit, although incomplete, parallels – viewed as a reflection (allegory) on contemporary Russia.