The Memory Artist: Exploring Trauma Through Literature, Landscape and Memory in Twentieth Century Russia

This thesis investigates the relationship between literature, collective trauma and specific periods of twentieth-century Russian history. It comprises two components. The creative component is a novel, titled The Memory Artist. Set in Russia in 1999, the novel looks back on the 1960s through the eyes of the protagonist who grew up in Moscow during the Brezhnev era. The other component is a critical study that examines the ways literature can engage with historical trauma through representations of landscape and the operation of memory in individuals and societies.