ON THE GENRE PARTICULARITY OF MARIA STEPANOVA`S BOOK “IN MEMORY OF MEMORY OR POST-MEMORY”

Abstract

“In Memory of Memory or Post-Memory” is one of those non-fiction works that rely on various documents combined with fiction. It raises a complex of problems, and the author’s position is expressed by the plot of his search for the solutions, without claims of categorical conclusions. Hence, there are disputes about the genre of M. Stepanova’s book, and different versions. Having reviewed them, and being in agreement with Sergey Orobiy’s conclusion that “In Memory of Memory or Post-Memory” is a metanovel, the author of this article aims to show that this is a work of a completely different type which requires precise qualification of its genre definition. The article shows that a peculiar construal of the plot and the mechanism of creation of the “In Memory of Memory” is given in M. Stepanova’s text itself in a system of mirrors giving a reflection of her pondering her trade, and of those authors who had already had similar books (Sh. Salmon, R. Goldchain, V. Zebald et al). By introducing into the text hundreds of names and pieces of factual data, using the experience of ready-made texts and oral history records, M. Stepanova relies on a through motif of personal and family memory, and its isomorph motif of the memory of a national catastrophe. They serve both for their organic connection, and for the contrasting connections of pieces of reality varying in their optics and scale. And they also serve for transformations of all those numerous reminiscences and allusions M. Stepanova uses to depict the main messages and meanings of the entire novel. The plot lines of reconstructed histories of friends and relatives are interconnected among themselves, and with the material of documentary and literary sources with the help of different editing tools. The principle of editorial construction of the text facilitates the showing of contrast and inevitable conflict of different simultaneous events, of coincidental connections between different facts, and metaphorical portrayal of a catastrophe and disintegration of the conscience of the person and the world. In M. Stepanova’s work, personal documents, such as letters and diaries, in combination with official documents, as well as fictional documents, fantasy and improvisation serve as the main material for comprehension and description of the facts of reality. And, importantly, the author submits to reflection the factual materials presented to the reader, the manner and the algorithm of their presentation in the text, and the author herself as the creator of the text in front of the reader’s eyes. All that lets us conclude that the genre of “The Memory of Memory” is an auto-documentary meta-novel.