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


narrative

Martian chronicles of the “Belle Époque”

The French literature from the late 19th and early 20th centuries that can be classified as “space fiction” centered on missions to Mars and making contact with Martians. The topic’s appeal stems from scientific findings of the time (particularly the so-called Martian canals) as well as the traditional symbolism of the Roman god who gave the Red Planet its name. All authors who wrote about Mars during the “Belle Époque” were inspired, to varying degrees, by the writings of the eminent astronomer Camille Flammarion (both scientific and fictional).

Time in B. Pasternak’s Novel Doctor Zhivago

In the article the time structure of the novel Doctor Zhivago is examined in the context of Pasternak’s idea of imaginative reality. Time in the novel is presented as a row of interlacing mutually defining layers: the author’s time, the time of lyrical affection, the time of the characters, the reader’s time, breakthroughs to the Eternity create a complex unity of the narrative structure.

Mechanisms of Memory in «Nothing to be Frightened of» by Julian Barnes

The article studies the autobiographical book by Julian Barnes, the contemporary English postmodernist writer, where his personal memories illustrate the illusive nature of memory and its limits, revealing such mechanisms of memory as subjective interpretation, forgetting and imagining.

Ironic Epic Style of Fazil Iskander: Peculiarities of Idiostyle

Stylistic tendencies typical for F. Iskander’s idiostyle are analyzed: epic narration and ironic modality. External and internal characteristics of narrative as well as different degrees and types of irony are considered.

THE ROLE OF MEMORY IN THE FORMATION OF NATIONAL IDENTITY IN THE NOVEL J. BARNSA "ENGLAND, ENGLAND"

The article deals with the most important problems of the novel of the famous English postmodernist J. Barnes - the question of the authenticity of the foundations of English and the unreliability of personal memory. It also traces how the narrative character of the memory reveals the construction of the national identity.

Post-historiographical metafiction: Maggie O’Farrrell’s Hamnet

Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet (2020), the novel about Shakespeare’s son and wife, is considered as the continuation of postmodernist interest in Shakespeare exemplified by A. Burgess’s and R. Nye’s novels about the Bard. However, O’Farrell’s approach to history through the lens of everyday family life, her present-tense narrative and especially her manner of reinterpreting the historical facts all point to another, more recent literary influence – Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell novels.