Rescrieri în postmodernismul rus

This paper discusses the first postmodern novels in Russian literature (Pushkin House by Andrei Bitov, Moscow-Petushki by Venedikt Erofeev and A School for Fools by Sasha Sokolov) as „rewrites”. They resume elements of classical literature, oscillating between the preservation of the literary model (by adaptation, allusion, quotation) and undermining (by transformations made in an ironic or playful manner). The first part of the article analyzes the context in which these novels were written, relevant to the idea that the rewriting is, in their case, a strategy for writing a subversive text. The second part deals with “the duel”– a cultural code in Bitov’s novel, important for his capacity to reveal elements of Soviet society in the 1960’s – 1970’s. Bitov rewrites mainly Eugene Onegin and A Hero of Our Time. The last part of the paper deals with biblical intertext in the novels of Erofeev and Sokolov. Both are complex and very different rewrites, but what brings them together is the fact that they rewrite the episode of the crucifixion: while Erofeev chooses a biblical and Kafkaesque ending, Sokolov resumes this episode as a story for special school students.