В.라스푸틴의 소설 〈그 땅으로〉

V.Rasputin's <Into the Land> - Tragedy and Hope of Angara River Development

V.Rasputin’s 〈Into the Land〉 is a novel published in 1995; it describes the situation and the life in Siberia after the construction of the Angara River Dam in early 1950: the city and nature were spoiled, that is, air and water were fouled by the chemicals, which is drained out of aluminum and wood chemical industry complex. Although siberian people suffered from environmental problems, they could not resist the socialist bureaucrats. Capitalism introduced by Perestroika in 1985 also could not break the bonds of the personal life and instead the privatization policy made their life fall into more difficult situation. The relationship among peoples in despair is disconnected, so that they alienate each other. In general, the traditional funeral services in Russia is conducted by the community. But Pashuta, the heroine of the novel, was raised in poverty and she had no haman relations at all in the city, that could help to prepare for her mother’s funeral. She gave up to perform the funeral service which was generally hold in the city. So she decides to organize the funeral on her own which is contrary to the custom and tradition. Such funeral service will give Pashuta hardship, such as overcoming not only the feelings of guilt but also blame of people. At the same time she has to recover the essential meaning of the funeral. The funeral organized by Pashuta proves to be the process of reconciliation with her mother Aksinia, that leads to rediscovery of the family relationship. And it will be comforting for the Stas, who is living in despair. Finally, it serves to recover and rebuild the relationship among the human being, religion and nature. The title of the novel 〈Into the land〉 is related to Russian traditional land philosophy, where the land is the origin of life and the resting place for the dead. In this point of view, the novel presents the comfort of the pain and the possibility of solving problems in Siberian life.