MORAL CHOICE IN THE GRAHAM JOYCE’S NOVELLA “LENINGRAD NIGHTS” 

Kolesnikov Aleksandr Yurievich, Postgraduate student, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod (23 Gagarina avenue, Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia), alik.kolesnikoff@yandex.ru

821.11

Background. The theme of World War II stays important in contemporary literature. B. Schlink, I. McEwan, J. Littell and other authors attempt to re-evaluate what was happening during 1939–1945, they seek to revise established views on the war events. The study of how the events of the Second World War are depicted in Western European and North American contemporary literature is important in the current geopolitical situation. Contemporary British writer Graham Joyce (1954–2014) appeals to this theme twice: in the novel “The Facts of Life” and in the novella “Leningrad Nights”. The article aims to analyse the situation of moral choice in which the main character of the novella is placed.
Materials and methods. The novella “Leningrad Nights” by contemporary British writer Graham Joyce was used as the research material. This work had not become the object of full investigation before. The method of complex philological analysis of the fiction was used in the presented study. Moreover, the works by Rudolf Otto and the concept of numinous, introduced by him, were involved.
Results and conclusions. It is concluded that in the situation of war the only judgement possible is the trial of human being on himself. The actions of characters during the war cannot be judged by someone else, but themselves. The reader is invited to make his (or her) own judgement, preliminary answering the essential issues, including the question of what is more important – staying alive or salvation of the soul.

numinous, blockade of Leningrad, WWII fiction, contemporary British fiction

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