Izvestiya of Saratov University.
Philology. Journalism
ISSN 1817-7115 (Print)
ISSN 2541-898X (Online)

Literary criticism

‘Steppe’ motifs in the lyrical poetry of O. Mandelstam: Characteristic aspects of the art space

The article deals with the development of poetic images and motifs associated with Mandelstam’s ideas about the steppe space. The author reveals national and universal aspects of this complex of images and motifs, as well as their connection with the Russian literary tradition and the individual poetic mythology of Mandelstam.

Compositional and genre features of Raymond Carver’s short story collection Cathedral

The paper explores the compositional and genre features of Raymond Carver’s short story collection Cathedral. The analysis of the problems raised in the short stories, the system of characters and the principles of narrative organization reveal the cyclical structure of the book.

Joseph Brodsky: from the tragic to the sublime (The letter in a bottle and The new Jules Verne)

The article traces the evolution of J. B rodsky’s poetics driven by the desire to ‘be free from emotional sensitivity’ on the example of the poems The Letter in a Bottle (1964) and The New Jules Verne (1976). The transformation of the poet’s artistic manner is considered through the aesthetic categories of the tragic and the sublime.

The dialogue with the classic writer as A. I. Solzhenitsyn’s metapoetic principle (Immersing into Chekhov)

In this article one of the metapoetic principles of A. I. Solzhenitsyn is analyzed – ‘a dialogue with a classic writer’. In his sketch Immersing into Chekhov Solzhenitsyn renders the pleasure of aesthetic insights from the encounters with Chekhov, enters into a conversation with him, argues with Chekhov’s world outlook. Thereby Solzhenitsyn’s own ‘creative lab’ is revealed to the reader.

Transformation of the Concept ‘Hero’ in Joe Abercrombie’s Works

Based on myths, epic, romance and adventure literature, classical fantasy books often depicted their heroes as warriors physically fighting evil. Nowadays the British writer Joe Abercrombie, whose works belong to the so-called grimdarkfantasy, depicts wars questioning the value of violent heroic deeds and the concept of a ‘hero’ itself.

Unchildlike Meanings in Children’s Poetry (Based on Poems about the War by E. A. Blaginina)

The article studies the lyrical cycle of poems by the famous children’s poet E. A. Blaginina “Why do you cherish your overcoat?” published in 1975 and understudied by researchers. Comprehending the particular features of the cycle’s poetics (composition, original characteristics of the lyrical hero, the functions of poetic syntax, etc.) allows us to reveal the range of its meanings; to identify the special features of E. A. Blaginina’s creative manner; to consider children’s poetry as a special artistic phenomenon.

A Book in the Structure of B. Pasternak’s Novel Doctor Zhivago: Book One

The article analyzes the structure of B. Pasternak’s novel Doctor Zhivago as a ‘novel about a person’, the composition of the first book is deliberately studied on the level of the parts (seven parts) and chapters (123 chapters), which allows to picture the ‘idea of the whole’ novel more distinctly.

Hermetic Novel by V. Yemelyanov Jim’s Date

The article analyses poetics and sources of the novel Jim’s Date by V. Yemelyanov. The author comes to the conclusion that the high-principled artistic framework of the novel is based on the aesthetic and philosophical concepts of the Russian symbolism and on the mystic premises of the Masonic doctrine.

The Image of the Volga in Skitalets’s (S. G. Petrov) Early Works

This article describes the creation of the image of the Volga in the early works of Skitalets (S. G. Petrov, 1869–1941). The artistic world of the writer is filled with natural images, which are drawn mainly in a romantic way. The landscapes of Skitalets are mostly bright and colorful, although there are accurate realistic sketches. Also, the Volga can play the role of a psychological ‘accompaniment’, and can become the ideal embodiment of the proper state of the world.

Journalism and Journalists in A. P. Chekhov’s Stories

In A. P. Chekhov’s prose such characters as journalists, reporters, news reporters, newspaper readers, and newspaper contributions themselves are introduced. The type of Chekhov’s reporter is studied, whose stereotypical behavior and character become a specialty of a kind. With the transition from comic stories to the ‘dull stories’ of the characters, with the enhancement of the underlying message, the reporters with their single-line depiction disappear from Chekhov’s works.

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