| Alexander Karasyov | |
|---|---|
 Alexander Karasyov – Evening at the Zoshchenko Museum | |
| Born | Alexandr Vladimirovich Karasyov 1971 Krasnodar,  Soviet Union |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | Russian |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Alma mater | Kuban State University |
| Period | 21st century, Second Chechen War |
| Genre | Short stories, poems, prose |
| Literary movement | Russian War Prose |
| Notable works | Chechenskiye Rasskazy, Predatel' |
| Notable awards |
|
| Website | |
| alexanderkarasyov | |
Alexander Karasyov (Russian — Александр Владимирович Карасёв, transl. Alexandr Vladimirovich Karasev) is a Russian writer living in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Biography
Alexander Karasyov was born in Krasnodar, Russia, in 1971. He received degrees in history and law from the Kuban State University and worked as a mechanic, engineer, teacher, and legal advisor. He served in the army, taking part in the fights in Chechnya.
Since 2003 he has been published in literary journals. He was awarded the Bunin Prize (2008) and the Second O. Henry Prize "Dary Volhvov" (The Gift of the Magi) (New York, 2010). He is the author of the books "The Chechen Stories" (Chechenskye Rasskazy) and "Traitor" (Predatel').
Alexander Karasyov, like Arkady Babchenko and Zakhar Prilepin, is considered a representative of the Russian "New Realism" movement of the 21st century, continuing the tradition of the "lieutenant prose" of the 1960s and 1970s and military prose of the 1990s.
It seems that our younger generation of writers, already labelled "New Realists", understand this. A generation raised in a free Russia, they combine both Gogol's trends. With a command since childhood of foreign languages, to which their forefathers had no access, enjoying freedom of speech, the absence of censorship, the opportunity to travel all over the world – for example, to spend time in Gogol's beloved Rome, where he wrote Dead Souls and to read books that used to be banned, they are creating a new type of literature. They clearly see everything wrong with new society and are far from conformist, but nevertheless are not "rebels" in the 20th-century sense (eg, anarchists, hippies, France's 1968 "revolutionaries"). They are writers who assume there is a place for preaching in journalism, social and political writing and the media, but that "direct action" is the responsibility of civil society. Their names are not yet well known to "general readers", but – believe me – the future belongs to them. That's why I'll mention a few I know personally: Zakhar Prilepin, Alexander Karasyov, Dmitriy Faleyev, Vladimir Lorchenkov, Tatyana Zamirovskaya, Peter Orekhovskiy, Anton Nechayev, Ivan Klinovoy, Alexander Silayev, Yevgeni Bevers, Andrey Mukhin, Marta Ketro, Alexander Snegiryov and Viktoria Lebedeva. I recommend you make a note of these names, just in case. After all, good writers are always in short supply.
— Yevgeni Popov
Books
- Сhechen Stories (Russian — Чеченские рассказы, transl. Chechenskiye Rasskazy). — Moscow: Literary Russia, 2008. ISBN 978-5-7809-0114-3.
- Traitor (Russian — Предатель, transl. Predatel'). — Ufa: Vagant, 2011. ISBN 978-5-9635-0344-7.
In his Chechen Stories and Traitor, which are regarded as examples of modern Russian War Prose, Alexander Karasyov gives insights into life in the Russian army during the Second Chechen War. Presenting a modern war and modern warfare, the author does not rely on second hand information but on his own experience. The short stories are often as tragicomical as the Russian army itself and show Karasyov's characters not only in the war but also in their lives outside the war in their civilian life, or their so-called "life in peace" (“мирная жизнь”).
Literary magazines
Alexander Karasyov's stories and essays have been published in the following Russian literary magazines: Novy mir (Новый мир), Oktyabr' (Октябрь), Friendship of Peoples (Дружба народов), Kontinent (Континент), Neva (Нева), Ural (Урал), Nash sovremennik (Наш cовремменик), Belskie prostory (Бельские просторы).
Summary in English
- Friendship of Peoples (ALEXANDER KARASEV. Chechen Stories. The author knows what he is writing about not by hearsay and his short stories are as tragicomical as the army life itself in this Russian "hot spot").
- Novy mir (Essays: Writers about writers. “Vonnegut's Transformations" by Vladimir Berezin, "An Orthodox Rebellious" by Oleg Yermakov about Paul Bowles, "The Testament of Lieutenant Kuprin” by Alexander Karasyov and "Reider's Usurpation of Days Gone By, and Legend Founded" by Sergey Soloukh about Jaroslav Hašek.)
Publications in anthologies
- Современная литература народов России (Modern Literature of the Peoples of Russia) (2005). Moscow: Pik. ISBN 978-5-7358-0288-4
- Народ мой — большая семья: Литература наших дней. (My People — A Big Family. Literature of Our Days) (2007). Moscow: Literaturnaya Rossiya. ISBN 978-5-7809-0111-2
- Четыре шага от войны (Four Steps from War) (2010). Sankt Saint Petersburg: Limbus Press. ISBN 978-5-8370-0538-1
- Дары волхвов 2.0 (The Gift of the Magi) (2012). New York.
External links
Author
in English
in Russian
Publications
- Журнальный зал (Society of Russian Literary Magazines).
- Megalit (Eurasian Portal of Literary Magazines).
- Сетевая словесность (Setevaya slovesnost').
- Russian journal (Русский журнал).
Interviews (in Russian)
- Нужна основательная встряска. (Interview with Andrej Rudalyov)
- Критик — это как в армии замполит. (Interview with Zakhar Prilepin)
- Армия дала мне самые острые эмоции. (Interview with Roman Senchin)
- От объяснительной к рассказу. (Interview with Michail Boyko)
Bibliography
- Silver, Courtney. Criticism and Complaint In Soldiers’ Narratives of the Chechen Wars. Master thesis. University of Colorado, Boulder, 2017.
References
- ^ New literary map of Russia (Новая литературная карта России) (2009). Встреча с писателем Александром Карасёвым (Alexander Karasyov – Evening at the Zoshchenko Museum). In: New literary map of Russia (Новая литературная карта России), 6. 04. 2009 Retrieved 21 April 2013.
- Суховей, Дарья (Sukhovey, Darya) (2009). “По стопам Зощенко”. In: Literary Russia (Литературная Россия). 10. 04. 2009. Archived 27 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 16 April 2013.
- ^ Аристов, Денис (Aristov, Denis) (2011). "On nature of realism in modern russian military fiction of 2000s" (О природе реализма в современной русской прозе о войне (2000–е годы)). In: Journal Perm State Pedagogical University, 2011 (2). Retrieved 17 April 2013.(“Summary in English", p. 175: In the article Russian military fiction of the 2000s is regarded: its problems, genesis and functioning in the modern literary process, reader and critic reception. Naturalistic, realistic poetics of A. Babchenko, Z. Prilepin and A. Karasyov, sharply contrasting with postmodernist poetics of Russian prose of the late 20th century and determining critics to speak about "new realism", is considered in the context of precedent literary tradition, the tradition of "lieutenants prose" of the 1960-1970-s (novels and stories by Y. Bondarev, G. Baklanov, K. Vorobyov, V. Bykaw) and military prose of the early 1990s (works by V. Astafyev, O. Yermakov)).
- Национальный союз негосударственных вузов. (2008). Бунинская премия (Bunin Prize) Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- Site O. Henry Prize “Дары Волхвов” (The Gift of the Magi). Archived 25 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 14 April 2013
- Огрызко, Вячеслав (Ogrysko, Vyacheslav) (2004). Русские писатели. Современная эпоха. Лексикон: Эскиз будущей энциклопедии (Russian writers. The modern era. Vocabulary: the Sketch of the future encyclopedia). — Moscow: Literary Russia. — 560 с. — ISBN 978-5-7809-0062-7.
- Огрызко, Вячеслав (Ogrysko, Vyacheslav) (2006). Кто сегодня делает литературу в России (Who does today literature in Russia). Выпуск 2. — Moscow: Literary Russia. — 496 с. — ISBN 978-5-7809-0113-6.
- ^ Yevgeni Popov (2009). "Who can follow Gogol's footsteps" in: Russia now , 21 April 2009 Archived 2 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 22 April 2013
- ^ Подховник, Эдит (Podhovnik, Edith) (2012). “Незнакомая война”. In: Октябрь, 2012 (12). Retrieved 14 April 2013. (This essay discusses the perception of war in Austria with regard to the book "Traitor" by the Russian writer Alexander Karasyov).
- ^ Мызников, Александр (Myznikov, Alexandr) (2010). “Облик предателя”. In: Polit.ru, 12. 03. 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
- Пустовая, Валерия (Pustovaya, Valeriya) (2005). Человек с ружьём: смертник, бунтарь, писатель. О молодой «военной» прозе (Zakhar Prilepin — Arkadi Babchenko – Denis Gutsko — Alexander Каrasyov). In: Novy mir (Новый мир). 2005 (5). Retrieved 17 April 2013 (The article presents an overview of works on contemporary war literature in Russia. Poet Sergei Mikhailov writes the poem "The Six of Them Went Off to War" that gives the readers illusions, ornaments and renders a state that war is clearly presented. Prose writer Aleksandr Karasyov writes stories to pave his path as his latest pieces are set in civilian life but still focus on the image of officers like "The Chess Queen").
- Druzhba narodov (2005). “Summary in English" in: Friendship of Peoples (Дружба народов), 2005 (4). Retrieved 16 April 2013.
- Журнальный зал (Society of Russian Literary Magazines). Александр Карасёв.
- Megalit (Eurasian portal of Literary Magazines). Александр Карасёв. Archived 23 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 16 April 2013