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Narrating Identity

Identity Construction and Fragmentation in German Sadulaev’s Ja – čečenec! and Šalinskij rejd

Valentina Marcati    Università degli Studi di Milano, Italia    

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abstract

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the Chechen wars were for German Sadulaev, a writer of Chechen origin, the starting point for a broad reflection on identity and nationality in the post-Soviet era. This paper aims to scrutinise how issues related to identity are addressed in two works by the author, the collection of short stories Ja – čečenec! [I Am a Chechen, 2006] and the novel Šalinskij rejd [The Raid on Shali, 2010]. Specific attention is paid to the role that narratives play in the considered works. In this respect, the paper first considers ethnicity/nationality as a narrative construct. Then, it deals with fragmentation of identity self-narrative as the consequence of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Finally, it considers the act of narrating as an attempt to hold together collective and personal identities.

Published
Dec. 21, 2021
Accepted
July 22, 2021
Submitted
March 15, 2021
Language
EN
ISBN (PRINT)
978-88-6969-551-3
ISBN (EBOOK)
978-88-6969-550-6

Keywords: Trauma and Memory StudiesPost-Soviet LiteratureChechnyaGerman SadulaevNationalismCollective MemoryPostcolonial StudiesRussophone Literature

Copyright: © 2021 Valentina Marcati. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.