Valentin Rasputin

David Gillespie (University of Bath)
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In the 1970s Valentin Grigor'evich Rasputin became one of the best-known writers in the USSR, allied to the “village prose” movement. He was famous above all for four novellas (or

povesti

), written between 1967 and 1976. These explore the social, cultural and psychological effects of urbanisation on rural areas in his native Siberia, and the huge cost, in spiritual and moral terms, as he saw it, of the drive to modernise the country. In particular, the construction of the Bratsk hydro-electric power station in 1961 plays a major role in his characters' lives and environment. In his later life, he was still active both in his writing career and as a local activist, most notably in defending Lake Baikal from the depredations of industry; and both his fiction and non-fiction regularly…

1982 words

Citation: Gillespie, David. "Valentin Rasputin". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 July 2003; last revised 22 July 2022. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5424, accessed 28 March 2024.]

5424 Valentin Rasputin 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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