THE SPACE OF A COMMUNAL APARTMENT IN LYUDMILA ULITSKAYA’S NOVEL “THE GREEN TENT”

Abstract

The article explores the space of a communal apartment in Lyudmila Ulitskaya’s novel “The Green Tent”. The components of the communal apartment are fixed as a spatial model. It is noted that the space of the Steklovs’ house begins to be perceived as communal only after Nuta’s death. The communal apartments have a similar setting in this novel. Fried potatoes act as a symbol of the communal apartment, which also has erotic subtext. The plush tablecloth is a detail that repeatedly appears in the novel’s text. It is closely related to the novel’s main theme – growing up and getting mature. It is concluded that a communal apartment is a Soviet spatial dominant that echoes the essence of the depicted in the novel reality. It represents a transformation of the traditional idea about home in line with the society’s setting on communism, on the one hand, and acting as a marker of homelessness on the other hand. The space in “The Green Tent” is personal even in the communal apartment. This means that the opposition of one’s own/ of somebody else’s is replaced by of one’s own/ of the common use. The space is directed towards the inside of the character, rather than towards his outer characteristics. Thus, the image of the characters’ life in the communal apartment is not just a background for the events in the novel, it is the space that describes the characters and reveal their images more deeply. The reported study is funded by RFBR, project number 19-312-90049.