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


historical novel

From the journal Vesy to the Russian “novel of catastrophes” of the late 20th century: A new book by A. I. Vanyukov

The review contains a general characterization of A. I. Vanyukov’s new book “The literary 20th century – 2: journals, books, genres”, its content, structure, logic of selecting the material for analysis, as well as the peculiarities of the author’s research style: a strong reliance on historical, literary and literary-critical material and context, attention to poetic detail, poetics of titles, numerical symbolism, composition of the work, active use of various biographical, literary-critical, epistolary sources.

The image of princess Sophia in historical novels of 1870–1880

The article analyzes of the image of princess Sophia in historical novels The Throne and the Monastery (1878) by P. Polezhaev, The Tsar Maiden (1878) by Vs. Solovyov, For Whose Sins? The Great Schism (1878) and Tsar Peter and Ruler Sophia (1880) by D. Mordovtsev, On the Height and in the Dale: Princess Sophia (1879) by E. Karnovich.

Christian truth and political power in Evelyn Waugh’s Helena

The novel Helena (1950) is analyzed as Evelyn Waugh’s profound statement on his most significant problems: the possibility to resolve the crises of the 20th-century consciousness through Christianity and on the nature of power. Cradle Anglo-Catholics were always suspicious of Waugh, seeing him as an errant Catholic; the paper uses the work of Waugh’s biographers and interpreters to pinpoint his personal reception of Catholicism as the most sophisticated, strictly logical system, firmly grounded in historical fact. Waugh’s story of St.

Old Russian Feeble-Mindedness Phenomenon in the Fiction Space of the Novel «Yuri Miloslavsky, or Russians in 1612» by M.N. Zagoskin

The 17-th century is the Time of trouble and the age of feeble-mindedness flourishing in Russia. Composing the first Russian historical novel M.N. Zagoskin could not help bringing the figure of Christian associate in the narration. The article shows ways of interpretation of some episodes with the «God’s fool» using Scriptural passages.

RUSSIAN REVIEWS ABOUT MARGERIT YURSENAR

The article offers a history of the publication of translations of M. Jursenar's works into Russian since 1984 and systematizes the assessments and approaches to the work of the French writer, which have been developing in parallel in domestic criticism.

 

Genre modifi cations and “search for a genre” in Timur Kibirov’s novel The General and His Family

Genre defi nition of Timur Kibirov’s The General and His Family caused disagreement among literary critics. The range of opinions concerning the defi nition of the novel’s genre include historical novel, family saga, cento novel, the novel about psychology and morality of the late years of the USSR. This article is concentrated on the novel’s genre defi nition. The genre framework of the text is the epoch-standard local family story depicted against the background of massive Soviet history.