The test of authenticity as an existential conflict in A. Salynsky’s drama “The Long-Awaited One”

Abstract

   The relevance of the topic  is due to the need to revise the simplistic view of Soviet drama of the 1970 s  as exclusively ideologically engaged or “production-oriented”, as well as the growing scholarly interest in the existential dimension of late Soviet literature.    The problem lies in the fact that existential motifs within the late socialist canon remain insufficiently studied, and the mechanisms of their artistic embodiment have not been identified, which complicates the understanding of the evolution of Russian drama.    The purpose  is to examine the transformation of the socialist-realist conflict in A. Salynsky’s play “The Long-Awaited One” and to analyze the existential chronotope of return as a structuring principle of its artistic world.    The following tasks  were set: defining the genre position of the play between production and socio-psychological drama, describing the character system as a spectrum of authenticity/in-authenticity modes, and analyzing the poetics from an existential perspective.    The methodology employs Paul Ricœur’s hermeneutical analysis, moving from explaining formal elements to understanding the meaning as a whole, which makes it possible to reveal the philosophical subtext of the play. The findings reveal that the classical “spontaneity – consciousness” opposition transforms into the tragic authenticity of the hero versus the inauthenticity as the “second nature” of the antagonist; the chronotope of return organizes the conflict both as a test of the family’s existential contact and as an intrusion of traumatic memory into private space; and everyday details together with author’s remarks create a Chekhovian subtext with existential meaning, taking the conflict beyond social criticism. The prospects of the study include a comparative analysis of Salynsky’s other plays and a more consistent application of trauma studies methodology to late socialist drama, enabling it to be viewed as a space for articulating the collective traumas of the twentieth century.