The transformation of the socialist worldview of the village prose writers and the ideological basis of acutely social works about the Russian North peasant lifestyle

Abstract

We highlight the contribution of Vologda writers Alexander Yashin and Vasily Belov to the development of village prose – the phenomenon of fiction of the 20th century. The prose writers were at the origins of the formation of themes, style, ideology of creative work of the Northern authors realm, became the ancestors of the transition from socialist to critical realism. Special attention is paid to the issues of transformation of consciousness and alteration of the problematic of the writers' narration, in the aggregate leading to the publication of sensational works about the village. The processes of the literary reputation of the writers are displayed, while the points of popularity are determined – for instance the story "Vologda Wedding" and the novel "Business as Usual" of an unusual fate. Portraying a suffering village, the authors experienced a difficult time of forced silence, their figures and creative work were discussed during ideological discussions. The conclusion that having witnessed the stage of crisis phenomena in the evolution of the collective-state farm village, the breaking of the traditional peasant way of life, Alexander Yashin and Vasily Belov were among the first among the village prose writers to express a public protest.