Archetype of Victor and Fate of Wartime Generation in D. A. Granin's Novel “My Lieutenant”

Abstract

This article offers a comprehensive study of the eponymous protagonist's image in Daniil Granin's novel “My Lieutenant”. Drawing on an extensive review of existing scholarship, it establishes that while the work has garnered significant critical attention, the autobiographical figure of “Lieutenant D.” remains critically underexplored. The scholarly novelty of this research lies in refining the genre attribution of the text and tracing the evolution of the front-line generation theme across Granin's oeuvre. The analysis employs a triangulation of methodologies: historical-biographical, historical-functional, and structural-semiotic approaches. These frameworks are applied to dissect the narrative arc, character system, and authorial digressions not only in “My Lieutenant” but also within its intertextual dialogue with earlier novellas such as “The House on the Fontanka”, “Our Company Commander”, and “On the Other Side”. The findings demonstrate that the motif of the wartime cohort — to which the author himself belongs — functions as the central organizing principle of his war prose. It is argued that “My Lieutenant”represents the culminating opus of what is known in Russian literary history as “lieutenant prose”, wherein the intimate autobiographical dimension merges seamlessly with rigorous documentary historicity. The paper concludes that the core artistic intent of the novel is the nuanced exploration of the hero's phased transformation from volunteer to combatant, and ultimately, to a veteran-warrior embodying victory. Furthermore, the study substantiates that the persona of “Lieutenant D.” serves as a typological portrait of the Soviet military generation.