Vasily Shukshin’s story “Svoyak Sergey Sergeevich” in the context of the Khrushchev thaw culture

This paper examines the short story “Svoyak Sergey Sergeevich” written by Vasily Shukshin. The word svoyak (brother-in-law) implies kinship and closeness, yet the protagonist, seeking to emphasize the distance between himself and his wife’s relatives, insists on the formal address “Sergey Sergeevich.” Although once a villager like his brother-in-law, Andrey Korchuganov, he is now a stranger in the rural world. It is no accident that Sergei Neverov favors a traditional banya po-chernomu (black bathhouse). Shukshin establishes a direct correlation between the black bathhouse and the essence of his character: in the steam room, Sergei Sergeevich’s vindictive malice seems to break loose. Gradually, the sins and vices embodied in this character cease to be perceived as merely a socio-psychological phenomenon. A palpable halo of infernality forms around this “petty demon.” In one scene, the hero sings “Vaninsky Port,” a song often called the unofficial anthem of the Kolyma prisoners. Its popularity surged during the thaw, especially following its appearance in the film “Ver’te mne, lyudi” (“Believe Me, People”). Shukshin selected this film as a subject of debate, as it embodied ideas and imagery characteristic of thaw-era cinema. Early in his career, Shukshin endorsed the fundamental tenets of the Khrushchev period. However, by the late 1960s, he had discarded many illusions, particularly the utopian expectation of an immediate communist arrival. Sergei Neverov stated in the journal publication, “Ya uzhe odnoy nogoy v kommunizme, mozhno skazat’” (One might assert that I am already leaning toward communism”). Later, Shukshin deleted this subversive statement.

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