Trauma and Truth

The collapse of the USSR was relatively bloodless. The Chechen wars were not. Trauma and Truth examines key works about them by contemporary Russian-language authors, provides suggestions for teaching these challenging texts, and concludes with a discussion of what this trauma might mean for Russia today. The collapse of the USSR was relatively bloodless. The Chechen Wars were not. A tiny nation on the edge of Russia, Chechnya brought one of the largest armies in the world to its knees. Trauma and Truth examines significant works about these wars by some of Russia’s leading contemporary war authors, including Anna Politkovskaya, Arkady Babchenko, and Zakhar Prilepin. Combining close reading of the texts with descriptions of the authors’ social and political activities and suggestions on how to teach these challenging authors and texts, Trauma and Truth traces the psychological effects of the wars on their participants, and concludes with a discussion of what this means for Russia today.