FUNCTIONS OF REMINISENCES IN CHRISTMAS STORIES OF MODERN RUSSIAN WRITERS (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE WORKS OF Yu. BUIDA AND D. BYKOV)

The Little Match Girl by H.Ch. Andersen is a fairy tale that tells a tragic story about a child's death at Christmas night. Famous Russian authors Yu. Buida and D. Bykov have written stories with the same names (The Little Match Girl and The Little Match Girl Gives a Light). The authors deliberately used these names to show the relation with the famous work. In both stories, the action is set within the timeline defined by the canons of religious calendarial prose. There are miracles in the stories; the Christmas characters are archetypes, as they are kind, merciful and compassionate. The stories written by the contemporary authors are examples of a kind of a palimpsest. They show the socio-historical collisions and moral problems of the post-Soviet time. The article uses the comparative method which allows us to consider the types of characters, to find literary traditions and innovations in the prose of the writers. It is important to take an intertextual approach during (when) examining the stories. It helps identify and analyze how certain motifs and images relate in the 19th century literature and fiction texts of modern writers. This approach reveals the deep connection between the works and the texts of world and Russian literary classics.

Russian Reception by James Hogg (Soviet period)

The article continues a series of works devoted to the Russian reception of the Scottish writer James Hogg (1770–1835), a famous interpreter of folk ballads and author of The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824). Facts and materials related to the perception of J. Hogg in Russia in Soviet times are collected and summarized. It is indicated that during the period under review, in the studies of Russian literary scholars, separate judgments were made on the traditions of R. Burns in the works of J. Hogg, the role of W. Scott in his fate, etc. The Russian translations of the works of the English and American classics (in particular, J. G. Byron, E. A. Poe, J. F. Cooper) that appeared in the Soviet era, which contained references to the Scottish poet, are noted. The publications, which included information about J. Hogg, are comprehended, with special attention paid to S. Ya. Marshak’s epigram “Inscription on the Stone” mentioning J. Hogg’s name, the research of M. P. Alekseev, B. G. Reizov, R. M. Samarin and etc. The scientific works of A. D. Ivanova, first of all her Ph.D. thesis “The originality of the artistic work of James Hogg” (1990), which contributed, along with the changes in social life that occurred at the turn of the J. Hogg, the emergence of new translations of his works are analyzed.

Being a Literary Critic: The Methodology of Specialist’s Life in the Profession (based on B. F. Egorov’s epistolary oeuvre)

The article, which is historical and scientific by character, presents the current humanitarian issues of professional epistolary communication of an outstanding Russian literary critic, Doctor of Philology, Professor B. F. Egorov (1926–2020) with fellow literary critics. The main directions of scientist’s active and versatile practices are considered on the grounds of his published letters and some letters to him in 1998–2020. The article focuses on professional communication and interaction between Ukrainian and Russian literary critics in the complex modern socio-historical and political conditions of interstate relations. The letters are published for the first time and are accompanied by the necessary historical and cultural comments and bibliographic notes. The material contained in them is important not only for the history of Russian and East Slavic literary criticism of the 20th century, but also it is relevant in terms of the prospects of academic studies of literature and the development of productive communication between scholars studying fiction in order to perform the main cultural function of literary studies.

RIVER IN THE WORKS BY M. F. ISTOMIN: ON THE PROBLEM OF MODELING THE IMAGE OF THE NORTH IN THE WORKS OF KOMI WRITERS OF THE XIX CENTURY

The works of Mikhail Fedorovich Istomin (1821-1862) are part of the unexplored and, until recently, not included in the history of Komi literature material - essays created by Komi writers of the XIX century in Russian language. Meanwhile, the work of M. Istomin is very representative both in terms of the formation of General regional characteristic of all the literature of the North, and the ways of familiarizing Komi intelligentsia to literary work. The analysis of works of M. Istomin made in this work, allows to judge about actual for the writer-“foreigner” of the XIX century connection to all-regional and all-Russian literary process, and also about a problem of creation of a native literary portrait for different people of the North. The description of the territory, its geographical and climatic features, the creation of descriptions of places was chosen by the writer as a priority, the most important task of creativity. This allows him to embody fragments of the Northern world through the focus of view of autochthon, to identify and record the most important, especially important for the northerner, locations and objects of environment. The writer paid special attention to the rivers as the most important geographical and natural attractions of the region. In essence, the North in the essays of M. Istomin takes the form of world saturated with many waters. The writer is far from symbolizing natural objects, does not endow their images with figurative meanings, at the same time, many descriptions of different rivers in his essays indicate the movement of regional and Komi literature by the way of creation its own concept of the North as a natural environment-centered world.

Theoretical conceptions of the ‘scaz’ in Russian literary studies after the 1960s

The paper traces the development of modern theoretical formulations of the ‘scaz’ as a type of artistic narrative based on sound speech in the works of N. A. Kozhevnikova, I. A. Kargashin, B. O. Korman, G. V. Sepik, V. A. Kukharenko, E. G. Mushchenko, V. P. Skobelev, L. E. Kroychik, Oge Hansen Lewe and Wolf Schmid in Russian Literary Studies and Slavic Studies after the 1960s. An overview of the narrative definitions in scholarly literature is presented, through which the connections of continuity between the classical and modern concepts of the narrative are derived.

Ghost Writers: Radcliffiana and the Russian Gothic Wave

Ann Radcliffe’s novels were extremely popular in early nineteenth-century Russia. Publication of her work in Russian translation propelled the so-called gothic wave of 1800-10. Yet, many of the works Radcliffe was known for in Russia were not written by her; rather, they were works by others that were attributed to Radcliffe. This article traces the publication and translation histories of Radcliffiana on the Russian book market of 1800-20. Building on JoEllen DeLucia’s concept of a “corporate Radcliffe” in the anglophone world, this article proposes a Russian corporate Radcliffe. Identifying, classifying, and analysing the provenance of Russian corporate Radcliffe works reveals insight into the transnational circulation of texts and the role of copyright law within it, the nature of the early nineteenth-century Russian book market, the rise of popular reading and advertising in Russia, and the gendered nature of critical discourse at this time. The Russian corporate Radcliffe assures the legacy and influence of Radcliffe in later Russian literature and culture, although a Radcliffe that represents much more than just the English author. Exploring the Russian corporate Radcliffe expands our understanding of early nineteenth-century Russian literary history through specific case studies that demonstrate the significant role played by both women writers and translation, an aspect of this history that is often overlooked.

Антиколыбельная песня Егора Буджалова в аспекте пародии Морхаджи Нармаева: «Ɵдгǝ цага саатулин дун» — «Буджала Егор залуд»

Introduction. So far, the genres of lullaby and poetic parody in the Kalmyk poetry of the twentieth century have not attracted much attention. Born in the late 1920s — early 1930s, the tradition was short-lived. While their genres were explicitly or implicitly marked, the works of Kalmyk poets in question were primarily oriented towards the Russian literary tradition. However, they expanded the genre paradigm of Kalmyk poetry in the intercultural dialogue. The relevance and novelty of the article is apparent, granted its focus on the two innovative works by Egor Budzhalov and Morkhadzhi Narmaev; these are single works that belong to the genres of anti-lullaby and satirical parody as part of the 1990s literary polemics of the contemporaries. This article aims to introduce these little-known poems of the two poets as representative of their contributions to the genres. Materials and methods. The sources for the study, Budzhalov’s “Ɵdgǝ tsaga saatulin dun” (“Modern Lullaby Song”, 1991) and Narmaev’s “Budzhala Egor zalud” (“To the man Egor Budzhalov”, 1991), were published in the local newspaper “Halmg unn”. The study of historical-literary milieu and realia, comparative-contrastive and hermeneutic approaches were employed to examine the poetic pieces in the context of literary, socio-political, ideological, and social processes on the eve of the country’s collapse; also, the biographical data of the poets that belong to different generations was helpful in the analysis of their ideological positions, as well as the authorial voices in the texts under study. Results. The study shows the innovative character of the poets’ efforts at creating a lullaby for adults, or an anti-lullaby song, and a satirical parody; these were to remain single samples, granted that the Kalmyk lullabies are mainly addressed to infants, and parodies are of a friendly character. Their works reflect the authors’ polar views on the realities in the 1980s and 1990s: criticism, on the one hand, and the defense of socialism, communist ideas, on the other hand. Conclusions. Budzhalov’s poem may look like a lullaby for children at first sight while, in fact, it is a lullaby for adults or rather an anti-lullaby, with the formulaic chorus baiu bai, a marker of the genre, acquiring in his piece the opposite message: wake up, do not sleep, act. Narmaev enters the dialogue with his younger contemporary, his poem also representing a synthesis of genres: a message, an open letter in verse, and a satirical parody. However, his parody is also transformed when the author parodies not so much his fellow poet’s style but the authorial implications concerning the Soviet reality. The tradition of literary polemics was not continued in Kalmyk poetry.

The role of title and epigraph in the essay “The Vision of Mirza” by Joseph Addison

The object of this research is the essay “The Vision of Mirza” by Joseph Addison. The relevance of studying J. Addison's essay is substantiated by undue attention to his works in the Russian literary studies, as well as the need for tracing the dynamics in the genre of vision in the Age of Enlightenment. The subject of this research is the title and epigraph as parts of the work that determine its structure and artistic distinctness. Analysis is conducted on the images of the viewer, visionary hero, and his guide, chronotope of the essay and allusive links. The essay is based on the combination of systemic-structural, comparative-historical, and hermeneutic methods. The novelty consists in the fact that the comprehensive examination of the role of the title ensemble within the structure of the essay allows reconstructing the link of the essay with the traditions of the medieval genre of vision manifested in the traditional topic and consistent motifs, imagery system, space and time arrangement, and dialogical structure of the text. The author provides interpretation to the allusive links between J. Addison's essay and Greco-Roman mythology, epic poem “The Aeneid” by Virgil, and psalms from the New Testament, and “The Voyage of St. Brendan”. It is established that the dialogue set by the epigraph passes through the entire plotline of the essay and reveal the characters of its participants. The extensively presented Christian theme alongside the images from ancient mythology and Virgil’s texts are essential for the author to express the enlightening program.

Representation of Natural Codes in the Individual Author’s Style of P.P. Bazhov (Exemplified by the Concept “Zoloto” (“Gold”))

The article states the investigation results and highlights the peculiarities of natural codes representation in the tales (skazy) by P.P. Bazhov through the analysis of concept "zoloto" ("gold") and the associated concepts in contrast with the data from lexicographic sources of modern Russian literary language. The tales (skazy) by the Ural writer were used as the research material. As a result of the analysis, the features of the etymological, basic, associative levels of the concept "zoloto" ("gold") were revealed in the individual author's discourse of P. Bazhov. It has been found out that etymological level of the studied concept is represented by the meaning "precious metal of yellow colour" both in the Russian literary language and in the individual author's discourse of the Ural writer. Some denotative meanings recorded in the Russian literary language are revealed not to actualize in Bazhov's discourse. The differences in the associative level of the concept reflected in the writer's tales and in the minds of the speakers of the Russian literary language are determined. The appearance of additional regionally marked meanings is caused by natural, cultural, professional activities of the inhabitants of the Urals tightly connected with the extraction and processing of precious stones and metals, as well as the regional mythology. The practical significance of the research lies in the development of a system of theoretical knowledge about the concept structure, and the identification of regionally marked meanings of the conceptual sphere of P. Bazhov's individual author's discourse.