The semantic structure of the “god’s fool” concept in the essay Pepiniere by I. A. Goncharov

The article attempts to analyze the semantic structure of the “God’s fool” concept in the essay Pepiniere by I. A. Goncharov. As a term, this concept is interpreted from the point of view of culturology. The essay reveals the basic structural components of the “God’s fool” concept, as well as its core and additional semantic features. The author of the article believes that the religious component is embodied in the structure of the concept one way or another, but is not reflected directly in the word usage. The “God’s fool” lexeme mainly comprises various secular meanings that are expressed via metaphors, repetitions and comparisons. The specific nature of the “God’s fool” concept in I. A. Goncharov’s Pepiniere is revealed in its periphery, which is formed by certain artistic techniques and categories (intertextual exchanges, comic elements). For instance, the function of the quote of Friday’s nomination from Daniel Defoe’s The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; Written by Himself, as well as the comparative quote from Boris Godunov by A. S. Pushkin are considered in this article. Furthermore, quoting is an artistic technique that creates the game motive, to which I. A. Goncharov resorts indirectly. The gaming component not only creates and emphasizes the comical element, but also serves as one of the writer’s artistic principles that contributes to the creation of the harmonious, negentropic worldview. The study of I. A. Goncharov’s sphere of concepts allows to identify not so much the variability of the writer’s worldview as its invariability.