Lost sense of self: body and power in Andrei Platonov’s “Devushka Roza"

This paper aims to examine and discuss the meaning and the profound relationship established between body and power in the short story “Devushka Roza” (“Young Rosa,” 1944) by Andrei Platonov, situating it within the context of the writer’s later works while also considering his previous novels and short stories. In “Young Rosa,” the representation of the body serves as a priem, a literary device Platonov employs to move beyond of dichotomy “individual” and “collective,” toward a broader understanding of the interplay between the “individual” and “power.” A close reading of the story and an analysis of its different editions will demonstrate how Platonov was developing a reflection on totalitarian systems and, more specifically, on the role of violence as one of the principal tools through which regimes—in this case the Soviet regime—seek to exercise power over individuals. Rosa’s body is not only subjected to torture, but also becomes the symbol of an absolute loss of self, a nullification of the human being, which annihilates her to the point of complete dissolution of her own identity.