“Chelovek bez imeni” (“The Man Without a Name”): Geopoetics and Identity Crisis in Nikolay Verevochkin's Novella
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Keywords:
geopoetics, identity crisis, space, social factors, existentialism, introspection.Abstract
The article examines N. Verevochkin’s novella “The Man Without a Name” in the context of geopoetics and identity crisis. Special attention is paid to the phenomenon of the “nameless man” as one of the key themes in the author’s work. The interrelation between the spatiotemporal continuum and the protagonist’s self-identification is explored, where geographical space-city, desert, and underground environments – not only serves as the setting but also plays a crucial role in shaping the character’s inner world.
The absence or conditionality of names in Verevochkin’s characters symbolizes their alienation from the socio-cultural environment and the loss of their own “self”. The article examines aspects such as the influence of space on the protagonist’s consciousness, the evolution of his inner world, and the emergence of loneliness and estrangement. The study analyzes how the author, using geopoetic techniques, conveys the identity crisis characteristic of the post-Soviet space.
The research is based on literary analysis methods, particularly the geopoetic approach, which helps to reveal the connection between spatial imagery and the protagonist’s identity. Verevochkin’s spatial representations intensify the character’s internal crisis, emphasizing his isolation from the surrounding world. As a result of the study, the motif of the “nameless man” is interpreted as a reflection of the identity crisis in early 21st-century Kazakh prose, making the novella relevant in the context of contemporary literary tradition.
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