Eugene Vodolazkin’s novel The Aviator is a kind of therapeutic diary in which not only the personal life of the central character but the whole history of twentieth-century Russia is overviewed in a spiral-like fashion. It is an attempt to save at least a fragment of the world from oblivion. As the protagonist of the novel says “[…] if everybody described his or her particle of this world, however little… Anyway, why should it be little? It is always possible to find someone whose point of view is broad enough. For instance an aviator”. It is not by chance that Vodolazkin chooses "The Aviator" as the title of his new novel, in which the protagonist wakes up from hibernation at the very end of the twentieth century. The figure of the Aviator summarizes the changed perspective over time (history) and space. The horizontal and earthly dimension of the train, which marked most of the nineteenth century, was replaced at the very beginning of the following century by the vertical, aerial dimension of mechanical flight. In the space of two decades humankind mastered this new technology, transforming the myth of human flight into reality. In the matter of a few years, however, aeroplanes from the utopian symbol of liberty and joy turned into tools of war and terror. The race for the conquest of space in the second half of the century summarizes this change of perspective. In this article I trace a possible “dialogue” between Vodolazkin’s novel and twentieth--century Russian literature in the light of the metaphor of the Aviator.
Roman Evgenija Vodolazkina "Aviator": Vozdušnoe obozrenie russkoj literatury načala XX veka [Il romanzo di Evgenij Vodolazkin "Aviatore": una rassegna aerea della letteratura russa dell'inizio del XX secolo]
Imposti
2019
Abstract
Eugene Vodolazkin’s novel The Aviator is a kind of therapeutic diary in which not only the personal life of the central character but the whole history of twentieth-century Russia is overviewed in a spiral-like fashion. It is an attempt to save at least a fragment of the world from oblivion. As the protagonist of the novel says “[…] if everybody described his or her particle of this world, however little… Anyway, why should it be little? It is always possible to find someone whose point of view is broad enough. For instance an aviator”. It is not by chance that Vodolazkin chooses "The Aviator" as the title of his new novel, in which the protagonist wakes up from hibernation at the very end of the twentieth century. The figure of the Aviator summarizes the changed perspective over time (history) and space. The horizontal and earthly dimension of the train, which marked most of the nineteenth century, was replaced at the very beginning of the following century by the vertical, aerial dimension of mechanical flight. In the space of two decades humankind mastered this new technology, transforming the myth of human flight into reality. In the matter of a few years, however, aeroplanes from the utopian symbol of liberty and joy turned into tools of war and terror. The race for the conquest of space in the second half of the century summarizes this change of perspective. In this article I trace a possible “dialogue” between Vodolazkin’s novel and twentieth--century Russian literature in the light of the metaphor of the Aviator.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
