„The Place” by Friedrich Gorenstein: An Epic Novel in the First Person
„The Place” by Friedrich Gorenstein: An Epic Novel in the First Person

Summary/Abstract: The article examines Friedrich Gorenstein’s novel The Place as a distinctive example of the twentieth-century epic novel. Challenging the author’s own genre designation of the work as a “political novel,” the research argues that The Place redefines epic form under post-Stalinist conditions by combining large-scale historical vision with an intensely subjective first-person narration. Particular attention is paid to the tension between the limited consciousness of the protagonist-narrator, Gosha Tsvibyshev, and the presence of an epic narrator articulating broader ideological and philosophical generalizations. The study analyzes the novel’s treatment of Stalinism, post-Stalinist disillusionment, and antisemitism by demonstrating how these themes function as structural elements of its epic poetics. The article situates Gorenstein’s novel within the tradition of Russian epic prose while highlighting its modern psychological and ethical complexity.

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