The Russian writer Maxim Ósipov portrays the permanent shadow of repression in the book of stories ‘Rock, paper, scissors’
At the end of the 1940s, during the Cold War, the writer John Steinbeck and the photographer Robert Capa traveled to the Soviet Union with the aim of telling what the inhabitants of that region of the planet were like. They failed. The authorities curtailed their freedom of movement and made them a propaganda tour of the Ukrainian countryside. Several decades later, the echoes of that Russian daily life reach Western readers thanks to the translations of writers such as Sergei Nósov or Serguiéi Dovlatov, with an ironic and costumbrista look. One of the voices that portrays this microcosm and the humanity of today’s Russia is that of Maxim Osipov. In ‘Piedra, papel, tijera’ (Books of the Asteroid), the volume of stories by this narrator born in 1967, nine stories are brought together that assemble a current look at a culture and a lifestyle that survives the Soviet era with a strong legacy of those years.
The characters are not immersed in a great war, like Grossman’s poignant subjects, nor are they locked in a ‘gulag’, like Solzhenitsyn’s, but they do live in a climate of sustained repression. There is fear of dissidence, fear of the power of former bureaucrats, coexistence with former KGB agents or henchmen to fear in the XXI century. In his fiction, Ósipov is critical: «There are authors who think they have to say something to people and write, and others who seek to tell what really happens. I belong to that second group.
For that purpose, he uses well-constructed characters, such as the bartender Ksenia, who knows the ins and outs of bureaucracy and the power of a small summer town (in the story that gives the book its name); the screenwriter Andréi, who fears that his opinions will lead him to jail (in ‘Fantasia’); and Elizaveta, who supports the cynical request of her father, a spy who worked in Germany (‘On the Spree’). Though lacking the polyphony and psychological depth of the Russian masters, Osipov’s stories contain strong plots, but the best lies between the lines. And in the silences.
The Soviet heritage lives on. “There is a great shadow, yes, absolutely,” acknowledges Ósipov, visiting Spain. “The legacy of the Soviet regime, unfortunately, is very great, and the saddest thing is that it grows, instead of being analyzed and, in many respects, condemned, as was done in Germany. For example, the Memorial organization (founded by Nobel Prize winner Andrei Sakharov, declaring it a “foreign agent”) was closed down. This NGO worked on the recovery of events that really happened, and did a good job. Among young people, moreover, many talk about how wonderful, glorious and powerful the Soviet regime was. So instead of diminishing the legacy of the Soviet Union, it increases.”
Are the repressive elements of Putin similar to those of that time? “Repression is now completely different in many ways,” says the author, who cites Tolstoy, Pushkin and Mandelstam in his texts. «The Soviet, in addition, also varied by stages. In the thirties it was bloody and there were massive repressions. But these days we have about 700 political prisoners, which is more than we had before the end of the Soviet era, in the mid-1980s. The reasons and the ways in which people are brought to prison also differ. But it exists and it’s growing now, so it’s hard to see what’s going to happen in the next few months.”
A doctor by profession, part-time at a hospital outside Moscow, and a writer by profession, Osipov lets his daily work permeate his fiction. “I use many stories and episodes from my medical experience,” confirms, who seeks a balance between both jobs, that of doctor and that of writer. “I’m not the type of author who writes every day. However, when I have an idea, and I feel like it’s time, I sit down to work. I forget everything. It’s like an addiction. I don’t stop until I’m done.”
While Russia mobilizes its military forces on the geopolitical board, how is its relationship with the European Union perceived? “Russia should be considered one of the countries of Eastern Europe, even if it is very large. However, the people who are now in power definitely see it differently, ”says Ósipov, who assures that he writes freely. “I try to be free. Free from political oppression, free from prejudice, free from tradition. It can bring difficulties, like any writer. But I feel free to write. Do you think there are chances of war? “Yes I think so”.
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