Issue #31

Abstract: Social criticism is one of the factors that supports transformations in contemporary dynamic world. Its accessible publicity raises for various social agents the question of the constructiveness of their critical efforts. The article discusses how important it is for the effectiveness of criticism not only its meaning, but also the style of expression, based on the degree of willingness to see in those who stand on the opposing side of the social discussion barrier also human beings as the critic himself/herself is. Referring to two works by Timur Kibirov: the poem Through Farewell Tears and the novel The General and His Family, the author examines some aspects of social criticism that define its tone, intonation, including attention to sociocultural details, consideration of the ambivalence of a particular social phenomenon, as well as the doubts of the social subject concerning his/her own critical views.