Information about the author:
Lola Debüser
Lola Debüser, DSc in Philology, 10 Weseler Str., 10318 Berlin, Germany.
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Abstract: The article is devoted to considering Platonov’s novel “Happy Moscow” against the background of Faustian images and motifs in literature. In “Happy Moscow,” the central images of the characters live their “highest moment” at the Komsomol ball. Chesnov’s Moscow, as a symbolic image of the era, conquers men’s hearts at the ball. The engineer Sartorius shows that his contemporaries are witnesses of the “highest moment” in the history of humanity in the parable he composed: he demonstrates the exit from the darkness of the historical labyrinth into the light of nature. Others develop similar ideas, indicating complete ignorance and dependence on the pact with the Mephistopheles of his era, who see themselves both as Faust and Peter I. Platonov shows the “Walpurgis Night” of Stalinism using references to Goethe’s “Faust,” Pushkin’s “The Bronze Horseman,” Dostoevsky’s parables, Stalin’s speeches and slogans.