Exploring Hidden Narrative Elements through a Close Reading of Vasily Grossman’s Short Story ‘The Life of Il’ya Stepanovich’ (1935)

The subject matter of this paper concerns the early phase of Vasily Grossman’s literary career in the mid-1930s. The research material selected for this paper is the lesser-known short story Zhizn’ Il’i Stepanovicha [The life of Il’ya Stepanovich], published in 1935, and the aim is to provide a close reading and an interpretation key to this text. In order to expose the hidden ambiguity of the short story, the chosen research perspective focuses on the protagonist's function as an entity that does not legitimise the socialist myth.