"Les Estivants", des gens de passage

Abstract

Summerfolk by M. Gorky takes place in the historical and social context preceding the First Russian Revolution. The author presents upper and middle-class characters on a summer vacation. In the dachas (secondary houses in the countryside), the characters’ way of life is reminiscent of the Pre-Revolution period. The summer atmosphere is dreary, imbued with a socio-political message, and provokes the need for a new start for the holiday makers at the end of the holidays and, to a greater extent a general change in the country. A summer vacation place, the dachas, hosts a drama, both individual and collective, associated with a blurry transitional moment. Summer visitors embody this confusion by having difficulties in shaping a future perspective. Thereafter, the summer period metaphorizes a transition, the necessity of the passage into action inferring a collective awareness for a new dynamic start.