“Kolyma theme” is really immense in history science and in fiction both, and our aim is not to present this theme here entirely. Nevertheless, it’s impossible to understand the phenomenon of Shalamov’s life and work without idea of Stalinism in general and camp system particularly. This question is decided in the first part of “Context” section — the historical part. And the second part shows the literary situation in which “Kolyma tales” were being arrived (from the first responses on Solzhenitsyn’s “One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich”) together with the most significant works with spirit similar to Shalamov’s tales, works that are known less than they deserve.

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