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

Literary criticism

Cypress by a cave: Erotic frustration, agon and death in Theocritus’ Idyll XI

The author offers a possible explanation of a stable thematic complex including the themes of erotic frustration, agon and death as a constitutive for idyllic genre. The choice of Theocritus’ Idyll XI for the analysis is motivated by its undoubtedly intimate character (along with Idylls VII, XIII and XXVIII), which makes them part of some specific personalized contexts: the people mentioned were Theocritus’ colleagues along with being his friends.

The tale “Sleeping Beauty” by Ch. Perrault in the mirror of libretto by I. A. Vsevolozhsky and M. Petipa

The premiere of the world-famous Russian ballet “The Sleeping Beauty”, composed by P. I. Tchaikovsky, I. A. Vsevolozhsky and M. Petipa, took place on the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre on January 3, 1890, and became a significant event in the cultural life of Petersburg. Since then, the ballet has been performed on stages around the world, undergoing various revisions and updates, but the original author’s libretto has sometimes been neglected and replaced with adaptations and reinterpretations of the story during subsequent productions.

Z. N. Gippius’s letters in diary discourse of S. P. Kablukov

The article analyzes Z. N. Gippius’s correspondence with the secretary of the St. Petersburg Religious and Philosophical Society S. P. Kablukov. The material for the article contains Z. N. Gippius’s letters of 1909, received by Kablukov and rewritten by him in a diary. Since the folder with Z. N. Gippius’s letters was not preserved in the S. P. Kablukov’s archive, this documentary evidence is of apparent interest and allows us to get an idea of the nature of the correspondence between Gippius and the author of the diary. The subject range of Z. N. Gippius’s and S. P.

Insect symbolism in the oeuvre of B. Poplavsky: Cicadas and grasshoppers

Analyzed in the study is the symbolic meaning of the images of a cicada/grasshopper in the prose and poetry by Boris Poplavsky in the context of classical antiquity and of the Silver Age art. These insects are often understood as one image, which is the poet’s homage to the antique tradition; the image of a cicada/grasshopper is liminal, implying mediation between the two worlds and connection between the past and the present, which allows one to experience the condition of harmonic unity with the Universe and the feeling of natural primeval being.

Tragic dialectics of the lives of children from Tiverzin’s yard in the novel Doctor Zhivago by B. L. Pasternak

The article analyses the tragic dialectics of the lives of children from Tiverzin’s yard, who devoted themselves to the revolution and became its victims, as well as those against whom the revolution was conceived. The significance of the locus “Tiverzin’s yard”, which occupies a significant place in the composition due to the way of life of the railway workers living there, who shaped the characters of the future participants of the revolution, is analyzed.

The infl uence of Russian satire on Dungan satirical prose in Central Asia

The Dungans are descendants of Hui immigrants from northwestern China during the late Qing Dynasty. Their number has grown to 100,000 people, they are located on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. In Russia they were called “Dungans”. After penetrating Central Asia, they adopted the local culture and the culture of the home country – Russia. Dungan satirical prose was also strongly influenced by the Russian tradition and absorbed certain themes and artistic techniques (poetics) of Russian satirical prose.

The folklore and mythological basis of the women’s quest in the Russian-language fantasy novel: To the statement of the problem

In the history of culture and literature, women have always played an important role. Numerous myths, folklore and literary works show the importance of female characters in the content, functional and artistic solution of various problems. In recent decades, attention to the “women’s issue” has certainly increased: representatives of various scientific disciplines are trying to identify the essence of the phenomenon of “true femininity”. In popular literature, a new type of heroine is being formed – a girl undergoing her own set of challenges (quest).

The functions of A. S. Pushkin’s intertext in Yu. N. Tynyanov’s novel The Death of Vazir-Mukhtar

The article focuses on the formal and content role of Pushkin’s intertext in Yu. N. Tynyanov’s novel The Death of Vazir-Mukhtar. Diff er ent ways of introducing quotes, references, allusions to A. S. Pushkin’s works are revealed. Such features of quoting as non-attributiveness, inexactness, pre-text reduction to single word images are elicited in the process of analysis. In the opinion of the author of the paper, this indicates a play-based dialogue with the reader who should unravel Pushkin’s texts independently and discern the “mistakes” of reproduc tion.

World-modeling universals of childhood in M. A. Osorgin’s story From the Little House

The purpose of this article is to consider the specific features of the artistic embodiment of the components of the author’s childhood world model in the story From the Little House by the writer of the first wave of the Russian émigré, M. A. Osorgin. The author-narrator appears as the central world-modeling category of the work. He remembers, reflects, describes himself as a child. The theme of memory stated in the story is the leading one for the autobiographical prose of the Russian émigré writers.

Film adaptations of Mikhail Bulgakov’s works: Literary source and its interpretation

Over the course of more than fifty years, thirteen of M. Bulgakov’s works have been adapted for the screen: The Master and Margarita, Heart of a Dog, Flight, The White Guard, Days of the Turbins, The Fatal Eggs, Morphine, A Young Doctor’s Notebook, The Red Crown, Ivan Vasilievich, A Theatrical Novel, The Crimson Island, and The Last Days. The novel The Master and Margarita holds the record for the most screen adaptations in cinema: twelve films.

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