DIALOG WITH POWER IN M. SHOLOKHOV’S LETTERS

Examination of M. Sholokhov's epistolary heritage in the context of the "writer and govern- ment" problem shows the depth of the writer's inner drama, which is the conflict between the writer's vision and the real world, myth and reality. In the thirties Sholokhov appears as the truth secker, which is confirmed by his letters to I. Stalin. However, under the socio-historic pres- sure, communist ideology overrules common sense of writer, which is detected in his letters to N. Khrushchev and L. Brezhnev, and also in his public speeches. History of Sholokhov's fate could have been interpreted as tragedy of a broken personality, if not for his last statements shortly before death, which proved his inner independence.