Russian prison camp prose and сhinese literature of the «high walls»: one day of a prisoner in the novels by A. Solzhenitsyn and Tsun Weisi

The article examines the system of creative roll calls of Alexander Solzhenitsyn and the сhinese writer Tsun Weisi, called by critics «Chinese Solzhenitsyn». The work of the writers is analyzed in the context of typologically similar trends in the russian and chinese literary process – russian prison camp prose and chinese literature of «wounds and scars» and «high walls literature», the fate of both writers is seen as an example of the complex confrontation between the individual and the totalitarian system. Comparing the works of Tsun Weisi and A. Solzhenitsyn the author reveals many motifs that are significant for the artistic world of the writers: rigid time localization and expansion of the time frame due to the introduction of heroes' memories into the narrative, description of the isolated world of the prison, the motive of physical and moral exhaustion, description of hard work and harsh realities of the surrounding nature, the motive of adversities and absurdity of the political system, motives of denunciation, betrayal and provocation. Along with this, the article considers significant differences in the reproduction of the main constants of prison camp discourse in Tsun Weisi and A. Solzhenitsyn’s works: relations among prisoners and between the authorities and prisoners, the ideological component of Tsun Weisi’s prison discourse, when the camp becomes a micro-model of the political system in the country, ideological and political priorities, determining the reduction of the object world and the poster character of the chinese writer, a high stone wall as a symbol of the Great Wall of China, impassable prison walls and the a priori doomed attempts to combat absurdity and injustice in an ever-changing brutal political reality.