«Мраморные» слова: о действующей природе слова в романе «Жизнь и судьба» В. Гроссмана

The essay focuses on the analysis of the nature of the verbal element in Vasilij Grossman’s novel Life and Fate. In totalitarian regimes what is said is stronger than what is done. A said or written word becomes a fact. The powerful state absolutizes words, decontextualizes them and uses them against whom uttered them. In Grossman’s novel the word is an acting element and decides men’s fate. A word said by Getmanov, a leading figure of the party, can destroy or save no less than scholars and talented people. The incautious and yearning for truth and freedom words of the Jewish physicist Štrum become dangerous for himself and for anyone acquainted to him. A word from Trockij like “made of marble” said to a trusted person causes the arrest of the long time Bolshevik and by then out of his time Krymov.