The Destruction of Chevengur

The destruction of the Chevengur commune by a “machine force” at the end of the novel has received various interpretations in the studies of Platonov scholars. According to some, it was destroyed during the Civil war by a unit of the White Army, according to others, by a unit of the Red Army, or by...

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Main Author: Robert Hodel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Russian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature 2025-03-01
Series:Studia Litterarum
Subjects:
Online Access:https://studlit.ru/images/2025-10-1/06_Hodel.pdf
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author Robert Hodel
author_facet Robert Hodel
author_sort Robert Hodel
collection DOAJ
description The destruction of the Chevengur commune by a “machine force” at the end of the novel has received various interpretations in the studies of Platonov scholars. According to some, it was destroyed during the Civil war by a unit of the White Army, according to others, by a unit of the Red Army, or by an abstract opponent who was part of a symbolic interpretation of the novel. Based on the analysis of the characters involved in this scene, as well as taking into account last researches, we prefer the interpretation according to which Platonov places ideological emphasis on the situation of 1927–1929 and sees Bolshevism, which gained the upper hand during these years, as the main enemy of Chevengur. Based on experiences with Hamburg students, the article raises the question of which kind of community, in a more abstract sense, was destroyed in Chevengur.
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institution Kabale University
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publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Russian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature
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series Studia Litterarum
spelling doaj-art-a8f28905f8054df68e4ae35a28f6d07f2025-08-20T03:39:32ZengRussian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World LiteratureStudia Litterarum2500-42472541-85642025-03-0110110212310.22455/2500-4247-2025-10-1-102-123The Destruction of ChevengurRobert Hodel0University of Hamburg, Hamburg, GermanyThe destruction of the Chevengur commune by a “machine force” at the end of the novel has received various interpretations in the studies of Platonov scholars. According to some, it was destroyed during the Civil war by a unit of the White Army, according to others, by a unit of the Red Army, or by an abstract opponent who was part of a symbolic interpretation of the novel. Based on the analysis of the characters involved in this scene, as well as taking into account last researches, we prefer the interpretation according to which Platonov places ideological emphasis on the situation of 1927–1929 and sees Bolshevism, which gained the upper hand during these years, as the main enemy of Chevengur. Based on experiences with Hamburg students, the article raises the question of which kind of community, in a more abstract sense, was destroyed in Chevengur.https://studlit.ru/images/2025-10-1/06_Hodel.pdfandrei platonovchevengurcommunared terrorrussian as a foreignfyodor dostoevskyimmanuel kant.
spellingShingle Robert Hodel
The Destruction of Chevengur
Studia Litterarum
andrei platonov
chevengur
communa
red terror
russian as a foreign
fyodor dostoevsky
immanuel kant.
title The Destruction of Chevengur
title_full The Destruction of Chevengur
title_fullStr The Destruction of Chevengur
title_full_unstemmed The Destruction of Chevengur
title_short The Destruction of Chevengur
title_sort destruction of chevengur
topic andrei platonov
chevengur
communa
red terror
russian as a foreign
fyodor dostoevsky
immanuel kant.
url https://studlit.ru/images/2025-10-1/06_Hodel.pdf
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