THE VISION OF RUSSIA IN MARTIN AMIS’S NOVEL THE HOUSE OF MEETINGS

Abstract

The article deals with M. Amis’s interpretation of the Soviet slavery phenomenon, the mechanisms of the cult of the leader, the atrocities of the Gulag, the dehumanizing influence of totalitarianism and the cult of the dictator’s personality on people’s minds and the formation of the national mentality. The ignorance and deliberate distortion of history with the purpose of anti-Russian propaganda are also criticized in the novel. They are reduced to absurdity when the role of the Red army in World War II is reduced to violence, looting, and seizing new territories with the view of spreading communism. The author deliberates on the identification of Soviet soldiers with Nazi war criminals, whereas Communist Russia is identified with Nazi Germany. The writer analyzes in the novel the aggravation of the cold war, as well as the stereotypical and politically biased Western vision of Russia and Russian citizens’ national traits.