Ekaterina A. KALININA M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University
1, 51 Leninskiye gory, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation
Philological Faculty, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Discourse and Communication Studies
PhD (in Philology)
e-mail: kalininakatia@gmail.com
ORCID: 0009-0003-1294-149X
Kalinina, Е. (2025) Shadow’s Body: Twentieth Century Literature on the Materiality of PhotographyAbstract: This article examines a number of cases in which 20th century literature addresses the materiality of photography. The writers of the previous century focused mainly on the mysteries of the photographic image and the alchemy of the photographic process. Writers of the 20th century pay more attention to photography as an object: the paper basis, the format, the frame, the inscriptions on the back of the photograph, and the placement of the photograph among other objects are given meanings. The physical properties of photography are also of interest to the literature: for example, its fragility, its ability to be destroyed by fire, light and other environmental influences. A photograph with its own ‘body’ becomes an analogue of a human body in literature, its destiny becomes a metaphor of human fate, and the fragile disappearing pictures themselves become a metaphor of memories disappearing in the epoch of catastrophes. Describing the feelings and behaviour of a person separated from his homeland and family by the force of History, literature deals with situations where high expectations are placed on photography. Photography is seen as the only link to the lost or abandoned. In these cases the ‘body’ of the photograph, just like the image, can evoke memories (Vladimir Nabokov), or it can remain mute, unable to help the traumatised consciousness remember the past (Georges Perec). By referring to photography as an object with a certain set of physical qualities, 20th century literature speaks about the tragic destiny of a person who feels his own fragility in the face of History and time.
Key words: Anton Chekhov, Vladimir Nabokov, Georges Perec, 20th century literature, literature and photography, time, memory, catastrophe.
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For Citation: Kalinina, Е. (2025) Shadow’s Body: Twentieth Century Literature on the Materiality of Photography. International Journal of Cultural Research, 1 (58). 35–47. DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2025_1_35
DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2025_1_35
