The Problem of Artistic Historicism in Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s In the First Circle and Its Adaptation by G. Panfilov

Abstract

This article explores the principles of artistic historicism in the works of A. I. Solzhenitsyn, a Nobel laureate. The purpose of this research is to characterise the content and methods of organising historical material in the novel In the First Circle, which the documentary writer worked hard on between 1955 and 1968, and its screen adaptation, the In the First Circle TV series (directed by G. Panfilov, 2005). This research methodologically refers to works devoted to issues of the historicism of literature. The starting point of the argument is the opinion that “historicism is inherent in all true works of art.” The relevance of this analysis is conditioned by the urgency and importance of the theme of history central to Solzhenitsyn’s creative quest. The subject of the analysis is the peculiarity of artistic historicism in the television series, the only cinematographic document of its kind filmed in Russia, an adaptation of In the First Circle. Considering the fact that among the sources on the history of repression in the USSR, visual documents occupy a special place, the author aims to reveal the extent to which the series directed by G. Panfilov maintains a reliable portrayal of historical reality. On the one hand, comparative analysis allows the author to conclude that the principle of artistic historicism reflected in In the First Circle plays an important role in the author’s concept of the world. On the other hand, it proves that the principle of depicting historical events that prevails in Solzhenitsyn’s artistic system finds a corresponding reflection in the concept of the director’s vision of the historical process. G. Panfilov managed to artistically embody the historical context in the language of the cinema.

Keywords

• А. И. Солженицын
• Г. Панфилов
• историческая память
• художественный историзм
• историзм в литературе
• исторический сериал.