Meta-worlds of A. G. Ateev and A. P. Vladimirov as two compositional and stylistic trends in contemporary Russian horror literature

The article addresses the issues of genre, imagery and style in the works of A. G. Ateev and A. P. Vladimirov, who are almost unexplored at the present stage. The subject of research is the literary meta-worlds of two contemporary writers, whose work is organically inscribed in the context of the latest “horror” literature. A comparative analysis of their imaginative worlds and style continuity with both Russian (N. V. Gogol, M. A. Bulgakov) and foreign classics (E. T. A. Hoffmann, A. Dumas-father) is carried out, and a dialog with the newest literature (K. Barker, S. King) is emphasized. The methodology of the work is based on the methods of comparative and contextual analysis. Semiotic, intertextual and structural-functional types of analysis are used as auxiliary techniques. The author clarifies conceptual approaches to the recently emerged theoretical and literary notion of “meta-world” (variant - “artistic universe”) as applied to the prose of Russian representatives of “horror” literature; the author proves the organic connection between the so-called “light”, fiction and classical genre constructs. The main loci and character types are singled out by analogy with the artifactual side of the meta-worlds of H. P. Lovecraft and S. King. The analysis of finales is carried out, which serves as additional evidence of the author's thesis about the presence in the newest Russian literature of “horror” of two style and plot-compositional lines in the organization of the narrative - conditionally “happy” and “uncertain” (“with many dots”). The mythological context (Slavic mythology and Hebrew legends) as a plot-forming for the texts of “scary” genres in the authors under consideration is given.

literary meta-worlds, russian literature, fiction, composition, plot, stylistic phenomena, A.G. Ateyev, A.P. Vladimirov, intertextual analysis, mythological context