Vasilii Grossman, V gorode Berdicheve

Robert Chandler (Queen Mary, University of London)

Ed. by Andrei Rogatchevski, UiT - The Arctic University of Norway
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 2.2.2.00: Post-1917 Writing and Culture in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, 1917-present.
Vol. editors: Neil Cornwell (University of Bristol), Roman Koropeckyj (University of California, Los Angeles), Andrei Rogatchevski (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1934

Places

Russia (Country of Origin; Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Story

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For much of his life Vasily Grossman was engaged in protracted battles, struggling to publish, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing. His debut as a professional writer, however, was surprisingly swift and successful. In 1934 he published not only

Glyukauf

(Glück Auf), a novel about a coal-mining community in the Donbass, but also a short story,

V gorode Berdicheve

(“In the Town of Berdichev”), set during the Polish-Soviet War (February 1919 – March 1921). This story about a woman commissar serving with a Red Army cavalry unit was printed in the prestigious

Literaturnaya gazeta

(The Literary Gazette) and attracted considerable attention.

The plot is relatively simple. Commissar Vavilova is single-minded in her devotion to the Bolshevik cause. To her dismay, she becomes

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1987 words

Citation: Chandler, Robert. "V gorode Berdicheve". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 April 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38909, accessed 24 November 2024.]

Vasilii Grossman, V gorode Berdicheve

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