Vol 20, No 3 (2022)
Articles
Shapeshifting Motifs in Russian Wedding Incantations
Abstract
This work is devoted to the analysis of Russian wedding incantations that contain shapeshifting motifs. They are a part of the dialogues pronounced by the representatives of the groom’s family (best man, the groom’s godfather, etc.) and the bride’s family (brother, father of the bride, a special “elder,” etc.) near the closed doors of the bride’s house. The shapeshifting motifs in wedding incantations is related to wedding lamentations and fairy tales in its verbal manifestation and style. The incantation texts are characterized by an independent voluntary transformation of the bride and the groom; the bride always goes through a transformation; the groom remains in a human image or transforms after her in order to get the bride. The bride transforms into different representatives of ornitho-, zoo- and ichthyofauna. The image of a white swan, registered in the Kizhi, Pudozhskay and Mezen’ traditions, is the most frequent. The second frequent are the images of a pike, noted in the late records of the 1970s from Arkhangelsk province (Leshukonsky and Mezensky area), and the image of a fox. The transformation of the bride into a ring is another feature of the shapeshifting motifs, which aligns wedding incantations and fairy tales even more. The groom’s actions in the shapeshifting motif differ in the degree of his efforts — whether the groom procures the bride himself or engages helpers to whom he is connected by familiarity, by kinship (best man, other participants of the wedding procession) or by a chance meeting, which took place during the search for the bride (a miraculous helper). The using of miraculous means, magic objects or the assistance of a magic helper are rarely present in incantation recordings; these images are mostly a sign of individual style and skill of particular performers, and the texts that contain them are typically recorded in isolated cases.
7-28
Stability, Variability and Transformation of Epic Traditions in the Olonkho of the Vilyui Region of the Mid-19th–20th Century
Abstract
The article deals with the issues of continuity, stability, variability, and transformation of archaic epic traditions in the early text (mid-19th century) and subsequent records (mid-20th century) in the olonkho of the Vilyui region. Attention is drawn to the features of compositional plot structures and plot motifs, and their functional and analytical characteristics are proposed. In connection with the replenishment of the olonkho fund with new publications on Yakut folklore studies, the problem of confirming, updating, and developing previously obtained results to identify common and local epic traditions has become relevant. The study has revealed that the olonkho texts in question are missing certain motifs of epic creativity that have become canonical, for example, the settlement of the Middle world by the aiyy tribes, the appointment of bogatyrs by the Deities as protectors of the Middle world tribes. Instead of Aal Duup mas (Oak Tree), a birch variant of the mythological Sacred Tree image was established. The motifs from the early recording of the olonkho, such as the murder of a brother due to rivalry, the forced possession of women, the characters’ premarital intimate relationships, the actions of the grandfather to marry his grandson off against his will were not subsequently developed in the Vilyui epics. The obtained new additional facts will help to identify the basic models of the epic narrative, and to determine the general and local features of epic traditions.
29-49
Genesis of the Image of Seerkeen Sesen in the Olonkho Epic
Abstract
The article attempts to reconstruct the genesis of the image of the elder Seerkeen Sesen, presented in the mythological outline of a major genre of Yakut folklore — the olonkho epic. Research materials included the texts of olonkho records from different times, namely the pre-revolutionary and Soviet periods. A phased analysis demonstrated the formation of the image of Seerkeen Sesen by layering elements of various historical eras. The image goes back to the female prototype of the fruiting forces of mother earth, and further evolves into the image of the giver of souls, the bearer of secret knowledge. Subsequent development, influenced by shamanic cosmology, contributed to the emergence of a wise old man who predicted the fate of the world. A later interpretation of the anthropomorphic image is associated with the attribution of the functions of the inventor of writing (equivalent to the creative act of a cultural hero). The work shows the complication and dismemberment of the initial prototype of the syncretic worldview; therefore, there is a clear genetic connection of the image in question with other olonkho characters — the mistress of earth, the deity of hunting, the thunder god, the creator god — is indicated. As a result, a conclusion was made about the complex genesis of the mythological image, which embodies chthonic, cosmic, zoomorphic, animistic features, as well as the features of the demiurge and a cultural hero, linked by the specific function of a mediator between the worlds, and classifies him as an immortal deity.
50-86
The Origins and Figurative Embodiment of the Mikhail Lermontov’s Imperial Consciousness
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to reveal the historical concept of M. Yu. Lermontov in the context of the ideas of his time, and to identify the historiosophical motives of his work. The central place is given to the understanding and genesis of the image of Russia as a country of the North and Russians as “sons of midnight.” The connection of Lermontov’s texts with the “Tale of Bygone Years,” the odes of G. R. Derzhavin, the works of his contemporaries A. F. Merzlyakov, V. A. Zhukovsky, A. S. Pushkin is traced in the context of assimilation of the statehood ideas, an understanding of the historical place of Russia as a Christian empire, an awareness of the specifics of Russia’s relations with the Eastern and European world. The article presents the characteristics of the state sentiments in the 1830s associated with the understanding of the tense political situation on Russia’s European and North Caucasian borders, an awareness of the importance of national history and the rise of national consciousness, the assertion of the idea of Russia’s beneficial influence for the socio-cultural development of the peoples taken under its patronage. Lermontov is the heir of the literary and cultural tradition proper, dating back to the Old Russian literature with its ideas of Orthodox statehood and God-chosen Russia as the successor of the Byzantine Christian Empire. The article focuses on poems related to the Patriotic War of 1812, as well as the actions of the Russian army in the Caucasus. The “Borodino Cycle” and Lermontov’s “oriental text” are intertwined in a host of patriotic motives conditioned by the state character of Lermontov’s historical thinking. In Lermontov’s work, cultural references to the idea of Moscow as the Third Rome are indicated. The poet is represented as the bearer of the imperial consciousness, which is based on the dominance of the idea of Russia as an Orthodox power. The actualization of imperial ideas in Lermontov’s work is connected with his vivid perception of the interaction between Russia and the West (Europe), and Russia and the East (Caucasus) in his times.
87-100
The Menippea Problem in F. M. Dostoevsky’s Poetics
Abstract
The article explores the menippea genre: its origin, development, and main features. The purpose of the study is to clarify the essence of the problem, which is based on an intrinsic terminological error. The article presents the opinions of I. V. Pomyalovsky, M. M. Bakhtin, V. Makhlina, and R. B. Shchetinin, who recognize this peripheral genre of ancient Greek and Latin literature as a general theoretical concept used in the analysis of both ancient texts and later works, including those by F. M. Dostoevsky. The opposite opinion is held by M. L. Gasparov, V. B. Shklovsky, E. M. Meletinsky, and N. I. Braginskaya, who deny menippea an independent status. The expanded use of the term, the inclusion of the concept of “menippea” in the circle of “historical and literary universals,” “historical and cultural categories” is criticized; first and foremost, its metaphorical meaning is disputed. Features of the menippea, “menippeal origin,” “elements of the menippea” (poetic inserts, parody, mockery, the spy motif of the spy, etc.) and their interrelations are present in Dostoevsky’s works and perform an essential structural and semantic function. The ancient tradition is being reinterpreted in line with Orthodox philosophy. The appeal to menippea as an “inter-genre phenomenon” allows us to artistically represent the relationship between the hero and the world, and the hero and the author.
101-121
Semantics of Oblomov’s Image in I. A. Goncharov’s Novel and Criticism
Abstract
The article reveals the popularity of the Jungian approach in studying the image of the hero of the most famous novel by I. A. Goncharov. At the same time, a hypothesis is made about the legitimacy of the so-called “biased” approach to understanding Oblomov, according to which Christian axiology serves as the key to understanding the image of the protagonist. All the following arguments are proof of this thesis. The comparison of Ilya Oblomov with Stolz and Olga Ilyinskaya is revealing and allows to offset their differences. The author of the article proves that, unlike the latter two, Oblomov was not conceited or cunning, and is able not to respond to evil with evil even in the most difficult moments. Even Oblomov’s matrimonial choice, which is often interpreted in connection with the involution of his psyche, seems consistent and justified in the light of Christian axiology: Oblomov chose not only a hospitable, but also a good-natured woman, alien to Ilyinskaya’s selfishness and conceit. In addition, the article considers the parallel “Ilya Muromets — Ilya Ilyich,” supplemented with new observations, and also concludes that the similarity between the Russian hero and the Goncharov’s character is internal rather than internal. Like an Orthodox saint, Oblomov is capable of feats of generosity and love.
122-134
“This Lovely Short Story “Dushechka” (“The Darling”)” (Chekhov’s Image in Gazdanov’s Novel “Nochnye dorogi” (“Night Roads”) in the Context of Cryptopoetics)
Abstract
The present study is devoted to several instances of Gaito Gazdanov’s cryptographic references to the texts of A. P. Chekhov. The focus of the study is the image of the Russian emigrant Fedorchenko, portrayed in Chekhov’s style. His literary prototype is the heroine of the short story “Dushechka” (“The Darling”). An appeal to Gazdanov’s publicistic speech “On Chekhov” allows to decipher the “Chekhovian” subtext of the image. The article also contains an analysis of the image of Suzanne who, being Fedorchenko’s heroinedouble, is still portrayed by the author in a different vein. Tolstoy’s interpretation of the meaning of “Dushechka” (“The Darling”) made it possible to suspect a certain hidden “optimism” in the ending of the novel. The study takes into account the presence of other literary prototypes of the aforementioned heroes, and allusions to them disavow their correlation with the Chekhovian image and transpose them to a covert plane, the sphere of cryptopoetics.
135-152
Medical Text in Feuilleton Criticism of the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries
Abstract
The article is devoted to the poetics of the critical literary text. The subject of analysis in the article is feuilleton criticism — one of the leading trends in literary criticism of the early 20th century; the focus of the study is the articles by the leading feuilleton critics of the time. A. A. Izmailov and K. I. Chukovsky. The article analyzes the reasons why medical discourse becomes part of literary criticism. The rapid changes that were taking place in literature at the turn of the 20th century are considered: the emergence of new trends in literature, language experiments, the search for new artistic forms, techniques in literary poetics, and many other processes associated with the modernization of the literary field. The role of fiction in these processes is traced: in many respects it became a source of augmentation of the literary criticism language, a trigger that has launched the mechanism of saturating the language of reviews and feuilletons with medical terminology, which has made medical discourse part of the analysis of modern literature. A number of examples demonstrate the use of medical terminology in literary criticism. Comic techniques, in which medical terminology plays a key role, are considered. Specific examples of reviews and feuilletons that incorporate a sharply sarcastic attitude of critics to frank manifestations of naturalism, are outlined. The author also reveals an evolution of the views of feuilleton authors on medical discourse, as a result of which a serious dialogue between medicine and literature became possible, and medical discourse became part of the poetics of reviews and responses to works of art.
153-168
The Еaster Аrchetype in the Story of Ivan Bunin “Lyrnik Rodion”
Abstract
The article analyzes the story of I. A. Bunin “Lyrnik Rodion” in the context of the Christian spiritual tradition. The musical creations of folk performers reflected in the “Lyrnik Rodion” evokes from oblivion the native folk culture of Malorussia (Little Russia), gradually fading into the shadows against the background of the intensive development of a spiritually decaying civilization. The performance of folk songs brings back to memory the old days when the Zaporozhian Sich was a stronghold of the Christian faith. The song chronotope expands the metaphysical space of Little Russia to the Danube and the Carpathian Mountains, as places of origin and unity of the Eastern Slavs on an Orthodox basis. Turning to the origins of Slavs and Orthodoxy, fixed mentally, rather than geographically in ethical everyday and song culture, the author inscribes Little Russia into a series of sacred toposes, expanding the vertical of time from the past to the present, and the horizontal of space from the Dnieper to the sacred Danube. The image of the main character-a blind man (an invariant of the fool), edification and the “soul-saving” of the spiritual verse, the Easter time, during which the action in the “Lyrnic Rodion” takes place, aligns this work with Easter stories and allows us to consider the artistic image of Little Russia through the prism of the Easter archetype. The inner transformation of the lyricist and his listeners under the influence of folk music, especially the song lyrics of the Christian spiritual tradition, brings to the fore Orthodox axiology in the coordinate system of which the story’s author sees the national character and ethnic culture of Little Russia.
169-185
Andrey Platonov in Search of Identity: from the “Factory of Literature” to Mastery
Abstract
The article examines the transformation of A. Platonov as a writer — from his statements expressed in the article “The Factory of Literature” (1926), to the short novels in the 1930s — “Kotlovan” (“The Pit”) and “Vprok” (“For the Future”). Despite the ironic tone of the “Factory of Literature,” Platonov presented in it his view of the struggle of literary groups in the mid-1920s and joined the debate about the artistic method of the new Soviet literature, its form and content. The writer was deliberating on the ways to create a work that meets not only the social order, but also the criteria of genuine art. Exaggerating LEF terminology and constructivists close to it (factory, semifinished product, raw materials, useful product, object, fact montage), Platonov stops at an important preparatory stage — notebooks — and reveals his own methodology of working with them, including with the help of installation. Notebook entries are divided into several groups: brief descriptions that help define the images of the characters in the fiction text and show their dynamics; phrases that have passed into the text without modification or with minor changes; notes left in notebooks, as they are uncensored — later Platonov “hid” these ideas in the subtext of his work. Thus, Platonov’s path is traced from the ideas of the “Factory of Literature” — through notebooks — to the artistic text of the 1930s. In the novels of the 1930s, the writer continued to reflect on the LEF understanding of art: the concept of “life-building,” production in the literature, the idea of the need for a “second profession” for a writer, expressed by V. Shklovsky and B. Arvatov. All this expands our understanding of the political, philosophical and literary contexts of the stories. However, as he followed the ideas of the Lefists at a certain stage of his work (synthesizing them with the ideas of other literary groups), Platonov was searching for his path to mastery, his creative method. At first, he believed in the need to create a “factory of literature,” but in the 1930s he was already doubting the possibility of building not only a common “proletarian house,” but also a literary factory. Doubt as a kind of artistic “method” of the writer (N. V. Kornienko) found its expression in the stories “The Pit” and “For the Future,” which became a metaphor not only for the new Soviet society being built, but also for new literature.
186-212
The Status of the Double Epigraph to the Poem “Your Way” by O. F. Bergholz
Abstract
Epigraphs to the works of O. F. Bergholz have not been studied specifically until now. The two-part epigraph to the poem “Your Way” (1945) was not approved for publication during the poet’s lifetime and was first published in 1989. In the initial position of the epigraph is an inaccurate biblical quote from Psalm 136, beginning with the words “If I forget you, Jerusalem…”; in the second — the line “Die and become!” from the poem “Blissful longing” by Goethe. The biblical quote was a precedent text and a core attitude for the poetess long before the poem “Your Way” was written. The besieged Leningrad was interpreted as the “Leningrad Jordan.” The image of the besieged Jordan (later excluded by editors and/or censors) is the most important sign indicating the semantic connection of the biblical epigraph with the text of the poem. Bergholz built a single spiritual space and set the “Jerusalem” — “Leningrad Jordan” vector; familiarization with the “burning” waters of the river meant an assimilation of the bitter blockade experience. At the same time, Bergholz built a vertical context: the sacred waters of the Jordan symbolized the rebirth to a new life (baptism), the self-discovery of man. The image of the Leningrad font correlated with the epigraph from Goethe, in which the theme of initiation is explicitly stated. The author of the article suggests that epigraph “Die and become!” was intended by Bergholz for the poem “February Diary” (1942), but was excluded from the text by A. P. Grishkevich, head of the press sector of the Leningrad City Committee of the CPSU(b). Goethe’s dictum has become the motto of the poetess since the time of the “Averbach case” repressions (1937). The double epigraph gave a semantic and philosophical perspective to the poem “Your Way.” The editorial intrusion (the exclusion of epigraphs and lines about the “Leningrad Jordan”) destroyed the connection of the title with the epigraph and the text, and impoverished the perception of the poem by contemporary readers. The two-part epigraph correlates with Bergholz’s entire blockade narrative, emphasizing the themes of memory and initiation as the spiritual formation of a Leningrad blockade runner.
213-231
The Arctic Chronotope in the Short Novels by Z. Davydov “Beruny” and K. Badigin “The Way to Grumant”
Abstract
The article defines the significant components of the Arctic chronotope in the adventures of the Mezen “Robinsons.” The empirical basis of the research was the historical short novel (povest’) by Zinovy Davydov “Beruny” (1933) and the short novel (povest’) by Konstantin Badigin “The Way to Grumant” (1953). A comparative analysis of these works was carried out. The choice of texts is explained by the relatively little amount of research done on them and the specifics of the story being told, which centers around people of heroic professions — seafarers and whalers. The plot of the short novels of Z. Davydov and K. Badigin is based on a real event of the 18th century — the adventures of Russian sailors on a deserted island in the Arctic, described by P. L. Le Roy in 1766. Various aspects of the Arctic are presented by Z. Davydov and K. Badigin (the territory of eternal cold, the land of death, the entrance to the otherworld, the place of forced stay of the Pomors, the zone of extreme human experience, the apophatic image where death borders on life), acting as a real-geographical and actually artistic chronotope. The Arctic chronotope includes toposes and loci that determine the individual destinies of the Mezen. The article characterizes the behavior of the heroes in the liminal conditions of the Arctic chronotope. The harmony of the heroes’ consciousness with the rhythms of the objective
world determines the possibility of survival of the “grumlans” on the island. A comparative analysis of the worldview of the hero of European literature (Robinson Crusoe by D. Defoe) and the heroes of Russian literature is carried out. The article considers the “hunting” and “survival” plot situations, which are the most representative for the behavior of the characters, and allows describing the unique features of the national and cultural identification of Russian “Robinsons” and comprehending the picture of the world depicted by the writers. It captures their special attitude to life and death, mythological worldview, adherence to the immutable laws of the Pomeranian fishing rite, the relationship of whalers with each other and the space in which they live.
232-252
The Concept of Man in Prose of Marina Palei in the Context of the Discoveries of F. M. Dostoevsky
Abstract
The article examines the representation of the “little man” that emerged in 19th-century Russian literary criticism, and subsequently reflected in the works of Russian writers, including modern authors. However, besides the image of the “little man” constructed by the critics, Russian writers studied the human nature in their own way. The article pays special attention to the artistic discoveries of F. M. Dostoevsky, who showed the pinnacles and abysses of a person’s inner world regardless of his social circumstances. Dostoevsky showed how a rich inner world allows a person to rise above everyday life and to resurrect spiritually. In his work, Dostoevsky disavows the constitution of the “little man” proposed by Belinsky, and demonstrates the forms of opposition to the “smallness” imputed to him, the ability to soar above the social circumstances and to become a “big man” in an existential sense. Modern Russian literature proposes two ways to represent a person’s inner world. It preserves the inertial moral descriptive tradition of depicting the little man, and develops the principle of depicting a character’s spiritual growth. The article determines the artistic features of the image of a person’s inner world in the social and domestic environment in the work of Marina Palei and correlates them with the artistic discoveries of F. M. Dostoevsky on the grounds of artistic continuity and development in terms of specific historical modifications. The article also examines how Dostoevsky represents St. Petersburg. Dostoevsky’s works of the 1870s depict the disastrous existence of St. Petersburg, and Palei’s prose aggravates the image of gloomy and stuffy St. Petersburg and uncovers a sick and dying city, whose death is inevitable; a person’s everyday life and life in general proceeds with the triumph of vulgarity and meanness. The characters’ rich inner world is already powerless to soar above vulgarity or overcome it, as it occurred in Dostoevsky’s works. The characters of Marina Palei have enough courage and fortitude only to dream of breaking into an ideal world, or at least into a dream, replacing the real world with them. But, from an existential point of view, the characters of Marina Palei, like characters of Dostoevsky, retains their self-awareness as a Man (with a capital “M”), in the social circumstances of a little man looking for a way out of predestination.
253-273
Poetics of Genius Loci in Victor Pulkin’s Short Novel (Povest’) “Dobraya Poveter’” (“The Good Wind”)
Abstract
Literary work of V. I. Pulkin (1941–2008) was closely connected with the “local legends” (a term coined by N. P. Antsiferov) of Karelia and the Russian North. The creation of tales, essays and short novels was most often preceded by expeditions in collaboration with the famous folklorist N. A. Krinichnaya (1938–2019). The integration of local folklore plots into the author’s literary text is clearly manifested in the biographical short novel “Dobraya Poveter” (“The Good Wind”) (1984), dedicated to the storyteller M. Korguev and his homeland, the Pomeranian village of Keret. The article for the first time clarifies the creative history of the short novel, discusses its sources, narrative structure and chronotope using archival documents. It establishes that the short novel of V. Pulkin is strongly influenced by both the fairy tale and historical legend genres: Korguev’s life path is described from his daughter’s perspective; the background to the storyteller’s biography is the story of the village of Keret transmitted in the oral memoirs of its inhabitants. The concept of “artistic history” of the Russian North (V. Pulkin’s term) is in sync with N. P. Antsiferov’s and A. A. Ukhtomsky’s reflections on the synthesis of “true story” and “myth” in folklore and literary representations of the area, the specifics and significance of literary local history.
274-293
The Short Novel (Povest’) of V. Kosterin “Snipe” as a Phenomenon of Philological Prose
Abstract
The article analyzes the short novel “Snipe” by V. Kosterin in the light of the peculiarities of philological prose, as well as the traditions of F. M. Dostoevsky’s Christian realism. First of all, the hero of the work himself, the sniper, the modern Raskolnikov (literally and figuratively) pays special attention to words, their sound and meaning. Locked up in a bunker for a long time, he repeatedly reads, rereads and even rewrites the novel Crime and Punishment, namely the chapter where Sonya reads the parable of the resurrection of Lazarus. From a passion for a literary text, through gaining a revelation about the Word, Roman Raskolnikov follows the path of spiritual awakening, repentance and transformation. The “philological nature” of the story is attributable to at least several factors: a subtle philological pattern of subtexts formed by epigraphs, onomapoetics, a system of intertextual echoes with Dostoevsky’s work, as well as the targeted attention of the author, a philologist, to the sacred function of the gospel word in a literary text and the use of his own theory of the icon nature of an artistic image. Contrasting with the emphatically historical, playful postmodernist orientation, as well as the total irony in regard to culture, V. Kosterin’s story steers the philological prose genre towards a moral-religious and timeless vector, which brings the genre to a new level and endows it with development prospects.
294-309