Abstract
This article studies letters written by Russians from the front in various wars of the twentieth century. The letter from the front is an intimate egodocument; it speaks about the attitude of a combatant in the context of the front and its circumstances while, at the same time, providing a reflection of the discursive regime of the era that defined and shaped the dominant modes of written communication of the author. A socially oriented narrative analysis of letters from the front allows us to outline the professional attitude to war, the evolution of military professionalism, military ethos and public discourse about it.
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