Authors

Merel De Keyzer¹;  ¹ Ghent University, Belgium

Discussion

In the 2010s, the Russian state began to reshape its sociopolitical landscape. By identifying behaviors, beliefs and identities that were considered to be harmonious, it subsequently silenced those that were deemed dissonant. For Russian youth who came of age in this period, this new course complicated the development of their societal voices. Accordingly, young Russians who embodied identities or held opinions deemed dissonant found themselves the very targets of silencing. Excluded from official spaces for sociopolitical debate, they had to seek out alternative spaces for self-expression. One such an alternative space is young adult literature: by centralizing the psychological and social experiences of young characters, the genre provides a potential space for questioning, challenging and/or reframing state-sanctioned narratives.
In this paper I examine what is considered harmonious and dissonant in a contemporary Russian young adult novel, the author and title of which I do not name here as to not jeopardize the author. The paper’s focus is the novel’s deconstruction of state narratives, which it achieves by redistributing the statuses of harmony and dissonance among principles that deviate from what is officially authorized. Additionally, a critical analysis of the novel’s miniseries adaptation is provided. By selectively including and excluding narrative elements of the novel, the miniseries neglects the novel’s renegotiation. Ultimately, the contrast between the source text and its adaptation allows to recognize how this young adult novel expresses perspectives on and from silenced young Russians.