Вор-джентльмен и щеголь-стукач: Эстетика зла в Колымских рассказах Варлама Шаламова

Varlam Shalamov's Kolyma Tales rank among the most important literary works about labour camps in the Soviet Union. At first glance, the tales seem to be as remote from dandyism as possible. Yet inside the labour camps there is a second world ruled by a special kind of Soviet criminals called “blatnye” some of whom claim to be arbiters of elegance in their own right. Keywords denoting (pretentions to) sartorial elegance or worldliness of manners in thieves or murderers recur frequently. The rituals, habits and mannerisms of this microcosm are characterized by cynical brutality and extreme violence. The present article tries to integrate these findings into the author's larger vision of a world devoid of basic human solidarity.