抄録
It is well known that the style of Andrei Platonov (1899–1951) underwent a notable change during the first half of the 1930s. This article aims to concretely analyze how his writing evolved during this period by comparing two of his novellas: Efirnyi trakt, written in 1927, and Dzhan, written in 1935. These works were written, respectively, before and after Platonov altered his style. However, there is another reason to compare these two works in particular. These novellas have entirely different themes; however, they contain similar elements in their plots. Therefore, they are relatively easy to compare in order to show how the author’s style underwent a transformation. Efirnyi trakt is about physicists who explore a way to increase or decrease materials at will. In contrast, Dzhan is about a youth who is sent from Moscow to rescue an ethnic group that is facing almost certain destruction in the Sary-Kamysh basin in Central Asia. Despite the apparent differences between these two works, each has a protagonist with a high level of education, and who, while eager to accomplish his mission, suffers a setback. A closer look at these works makes it clear that the position of the protagonist in relation to the natural environment undergoes a critical change. In other words, the relationship is turned upside down. In Efirnyi Trakt, the physicists are active agents dealing with the natural environment, and they exploit it for their own gains. In Dzhan, the young man is vulnerable to predation by eagles, and is therefore relatively passive to nature. In Europe after World War I, Platonov was not unique in characterizing the man by putting emphasis on his passiveness. However, Platonov was original in expressing the passivity of man with respect to the natural environment, not only through the expression of feelings and reflections of the protagonists but also by inverting the relationship between his protagonists and the natural environment. A comparison of these two novellas makes this clear. It is well known that since the mid 1930s, Platonov attempted to write works that faithfully accorded with the principles of socialist realism. Yet, despite his efforts, as seen in Dzhan, his own literary cosmos kept evolving.
