Portraits of Irkutsk

Valentin Rasputin and Farewell to Matyora

Valentin Rasputin is one of the most well-known writers to come from the Irkutsk oblast, and one of the most prominent of the village prose movement, which lasted from the 1950s into the late 1970s. Farewell to Matyora (1976) is known throughout Irkutsk, and is perhaps the most famous work to come from this movement.

Undoubtedly, Rasputin and village prose have had a part in shaping the identity of Siberian and Irkutsk literature. More than forty years after Farewell to Matyora was published, the echoes of Matyora and Rasputin’s village prose are still evident in Irkutsk. In 2017, in commemoration of Valentin Rasputin’s 80th birthday, a museum dedicated to him and his works opened in Irkutsk. Just 5 days before the museum was opened, a new production of Farewell to Matyora premiered at the Irkutsk Academic Drama Theater. In order to find out more about the modern relevance of the writer and his works, I visited the recently opened museum and talked with its director. I also talked with two actors, N.V. Koroleva and S.V. Dubyanskiy, who perform in the play Farewell to Matyora.

Click below to learn more.

На русском
Return to Home Page

This page has paths:

Contents of this path: