Некоторые особенности универсального пространства войны в романе Олега Ермакова „Знак зверя”

Abstract

Universal space of war in Oleg Yermakov's Sign of the beast

In his clearly pacifistic and anti-war book, a contemporary Russian writer Oleg Yermakov projects such an image of war which at a mythological level could be compared to the vision of hell. The main topic of the book is signalled through its title and motto, taken from the Book of Revelation (14:11): “And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image”.

The beast found in the novel is a personification of war, which in the writer’s view is unhuman and pointless. By combining in his writing visual and acoustic effects, as well as by making use of biblical symbols, Yermakov creates a universal space of evil. The space mentioned is composed of ideas of emptiness, ideological void, world without God, death, recurrence of phenomena which bears the signs of eternity, endlessness. The universal nature of the problem discussed was signalled through setting the plot in unspecified space and time. Anonymity and typicality are the dominant features. The writer is concerned with human reaction to evil, degradation of personality of one consciously taking part in war, the notion of complicity, and responsibility for one’s actions.

Key words: Oleg Jermakow; Sign of the beast; space; war; evil; biblical symbols;