Эсхатологический характер памяти в прозе Владимира Шарова
The eschatological nature of memory in the prose of Vladimir Sharov

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of the article is to analyze the category of memory in some of Vladimir Sharov’s most famous novels, such as: The Rehearsals (1992), Before and During (1992), The Old Girl (1998), Raising Lazarus (2002) and Be Like Children (2008). As it turns out, Sharov describes a reality in which, through the transmission of personal memories, crystallized into text and passed from generations to generations throughout eternity, can extend life of the individuum to the point of practical immortality. From a paper diary, containing all the smallest details from somebody’s life experience in chronological order, to the interrogation protocols, which are stored in the archives of the NKVD: text becomes in Sharov’s novels the most important repository of memory, through which it becomes possible not only to «resurrect», but also to relive everything anew. Therefore it can be noticed the prominence of the eschatological component in Sharov’s works: memory can be identified with immortality, and oblivion with death.

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