Roman Senchin

Alexei Pavlenko (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs)
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Roman Senchin represents a new generation of Russian writers whose formative years, high school, and the army service were spent under the Soviet regime, while the beginning of his writing career coincided with the collapse of the USSR. There are two features in particular which distinguish Senchin’s work from that of his contemporary writers: a Siberian background, and a consistent use of

chernukha

or “black realism”. The term originates from the Stalin-period prohibition to

ocherniat’

, “to slander” (literally “to blacken”) Soviet life.

Chernukha

is characterized by an unsentimental exploration of the most repellent aspects of Russian life—alcoholism, drug addiction, prostitution, gratuitous violence, rape, bleak drudgery of work and family life, and characters defined…

1621 words

Citation: Pavlenko, Alexei. "Roman Senchin". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 September 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12553, accessed 19 April 2024.]

12553 Roman Senchin 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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