Christian metanovel by E. R. Dombrovskaya “The Way Is Free… Chekhov. Spiritual Wanderings of Timofey the Deacon”
- Authors: Prashсheruk N.V.
- Issue: Vol 16, No 3 (2018)
- Pages: 222-237
- Section: Articles
- URL: https://journals.rcsi.science/1026-9479/article/view/294465
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.15393/j9.art.2018.5642
- ID: 294465
Cite item
Full Text
Abstract
The article contains analysis of E. R. Dombrovskaya’s creation, which the writer classifies as metanovel. The main part of the plot, tied to the story of the character’s personality development as well as his ascetic experience and the comprehension of Chekhov’s phenomena, is unveiled as the “bringing up novel” and the character’s “spiritual wanderings”. “Moving” the reader from the spiritual depths to the sphere of creativity, philosophy and literary criticism, the writer accurately follows the criteria of spiritual experience. Such methodology helps to see Chekhov as a true Christian writer. Author’s thoughts on spiritual wholesomeness of the process of creative exploration of classicist’s artistic heritage, on the gradual increase of his level of understanding is emphasized by the key image of evangelical seed. Eploration of the Chekhov’s creations is completed by combining literary and personal / family realities. Family novel, rich with content, is connected with problematic aspect (the struggle between family as a little chirch and the world) and the aspect of intonation (tenderness) of the book. Including numerous genre types and modelling the situation of the spiritual — artistic process, Domrovskaya’s book is internally wholesome, which is reached by the author’s position and strictly measured evangelical tradition. It is a rare for the modern literature Christian metanovel.
Keywords
About the authors
Natal’ya V. Prashсheruk
Author for correspondence.
Email: pnv1108@gmail.com
Russian Federation
References
- Bakhtin M. M. Estetika slovesnogo tvorchestva [Aesthetics of Verbal Creation]. Moscow, Iskusstvo Publ., 1979. 424 p. (In Russ.)
- Berdnikov G. Izbrannye raboty: v 2 tomakh [Selected Works: in 2 Vols]. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaya literatura Publ., 1986. (In Russ.)
- Erofeev V. Russian Metaroman by V. Nabokov, or in Search of the Lost Paradise. In: Voprosy literatury, 1988, no. 10, pp. 125–160. (In Russ.)
- Zakharov V. N. “The Brothers Karamazov”: The Textual Metaphysics. In: “Die Brüder Karamasow”: Dostojeewskijs letzter roman in heutiger sicht: IX symposiums der Internationalen Dostojewskij-Gesellschaft [“The Brothers Karamasov”: Dostoevsky’s Last Novel in Today’s View: 9th Symposium of the International Dostoevsky Society]. Dresden, Dresden University Press Publ., 1997, pp. 213–227. (In Russ.) (а)
- Zakharov V. N. The Novel. In: Dostoevskiy: estetika i poetika: slovar’-spravochnik [Dostoevsky: Aesthetics and Poetics. Dictionary and Reference Book]. Chelyabinsk, Metall Publ., 1997, pp. 211–213. (In Russ.) (b)
- Zakharov V. N. “Tenderness” as a Category of Dostoevsky’s Poetics. In: Teoriya traditsii: khristianstvo i russkaya slovesnost’ [Theory of Tradition: Christianity and Russian Literature]. Izhevsk, Udmurt State University Publ., 2009, pp. 163–185. (In Russ.)
- Zakharov V. N. Imya avtora — Dostoevskiy [The Author’s Name Is Dostoevsky]. Moscow, Indrik Publ., 2013. 456 p. (In Russ.)
- Zuseva-Ozkan V. B. The Invariant Structure and Typology of Metaroman. In: Vestnik Rossiyskogo gosudarstvennogo gumanitarnogo universiteta. Seriya: Istoriya, filologiya, kul’turologiya, vostokovedenie [RGGU Bulletin. Series: History. Philology. Cultural Studies. Oriental Studies], 2007, no. 7, pp. 35–44. (In Russ.)
- Zuseva-Ozkan V. B. “Don Quixote” as the First Sample of the Genre of Metaroman. In: Izvestiya Rossiyskoy akademii nauk. Seriya literatury i yazyka [The Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences: Studies in Literature and Language], 2012, vol. 71, no. 5, pp. 3–22. (In Russ.)
- Zuseva-Ozkan V. B. Istoricheskaya poetika metaromana [The Historical Poetics of Metaroman]. Moscow, Intrada Publ., 2014. 488 p. (In Russ.)
- Ierofey (Vlakhos), mitropolit. Pravoslavnaya dukhovnost’ [Orthodox Spirituality]. Moscow, The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius Publ., 2009. 136 p. (In Russ.)
- Karlova O. The Metaroman That Is Four Generations Long. In: Den’ i noch’, 2014, no. 6. Available at: http://magazines.russ.ru/din/2014/6/5k.html (accessed on July 15, 2018). (In Russ.)
- Nikolaeva O. Our Torturer Is Chekhov. In: Nikolaeva O. Pryamaya rech’. Otkrovenno o glavnom [Nikolaeva O. Direct Speech. Openly About the Main Thing]. Moscow, Danilov Monastery Publ., 2015, pp. 116–134. (In Russ.)
- Ozkan V. B. Metaroman kak problema istoricheskoy poetiki: dis. d-ra filol. nauk [Metaroman as a Problem of Historical Poetics. PhD. philol. sci. diss.]. Moscow, 2013. 570 p. (In Russ.)
- Prashcheruk N. V. In the “School of Destruction”: On Contemporary Spiritual Prose. In: Khristianstvo i russkaya literatura [Christianity and Russian Literature]. St. Petersburg, Nauka Publ., 2016, collection 8, pp. 401–422. (In Russ.) (a)
- Prashcheruk N. V. An Experience of “Heart Purification” in Patristic Understanding: E. Dombrovskaya’s Story “The Spring of Soul. Life Scenes of Ann, the Servant of God”. In: Problemy istoricheskoy poetiki [The Problems of Historical Poetics]. Petrozavodsk, Petrozavodsk State University Publ., 2016, issue 14, pp. 441–455. Available at: http://poetica.pro/files/redaktor_pdf/1482829654. pdf (accessed on July 15, 2018). (In Russ.) (b)
- Prashcheruk N. V. The Ascetic Experience of Self-Knowledge and the Problem of Creative Process: On E. Dombrovskaya’s Story “The Spring of Soul. Life Scenes of Ann, the Servant of God”. In: Tserkov’. Bogoslovie. Istoriya [Church. Theology. History]. Yekaterinburg, Yekaterinburg Theological Seminary Publ., 2017, pp. 180–186. (In Russ.)
- Prashcheruk N. V. Sovremennaya dukhovnaya proza: traditsii, smysly, poetika [Modern Spiritual Prose: Traditions, Meanings, Poetics]. Yekaterinburg, Ural Federal University Publ., 2018. 110 p. (In Russ.)
- Reyfild D. Zhizn’ Antona Chekhova [The Life of Anton Chekhov]. Moscow, KoLibri Publ., Azbuka-Attikus Publ., 2015. 896 p. (In Russ.)
- Rovinskiy K., archpriest. Besedy starogo svyashchennika so svoimi dukhovnymi chadami o nekotorykh sobytiyakh i sluchayakh, koim on sam byl ochevidtsem, kotorye on sam ispytal i o kotorykh slyshal ot zasluzhivayushchikh doveriya lits, blizkikh emu po dukhu [The Conversations of the Old Priest with His Spiritual Children About Certain Events and Happenings, of Which He Himself Was an Eyewitness, Which He Himself Experienced and Heard About from Trustworthy Persons Close in Spirit to Him]. Moscow, St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University Publ., 2015. 261 p. (In Russ.)
- Skaftymov A. P. Nravstvennye iskaniya russkikh pisateley: stat’i i issledovaniya o russkikh klassikakh [Moral Searches of Russian Writers: Articles and Studies on Russian Classics]. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaya literatura Publ., 1972. 544 p. (In Russ.)
- Subbotina K. A. A New Reading of Chekhov (The Problems of Postmodern Chekhov Studies in Russia). In: Izvestiya Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta [Izvestia of the Volgograd State Pedagogical University], 2010, no. 4, pp. 143–146. (In Russ.)
- Lowenkron D. H. The Metanovel. In: College English, vol. 38, no. 4 (Dec., 1976), pp. 343–355. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/376420?se-q=1#page_scan_tab_contents (accessed on July 15, 2018). (In Russ.)
- Savitskiy S. As They Have Constructed “Pushkin House”. In: Andergraund. Istoriya i mify leningradskoy neofitsial’noy literatury [Andergraund. History and Myths of the Leningrad Informal Literature]. Moscow, Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie Publ., 2002, pp. 42–51. Available at: http://ethesis.helsinki.fi/julkaisut/hum/slavi/vk/savitsky/andegrau.pdf (accessed on July 15, 2018).
Supplementary files
