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

Literary criticism

State-of-the-Nation Dilogy by Jonathan Coe

The dilogy The Rotters’ Club (2001), The Closed Circle (2004), by a British novelist Jonathan Coe is represented as an integral and coherent narration within the tradition of the British state-of-thenation novel. The article analyzes the role of realistic and postmodern practices in highlighting the social and political problems in the dilogy.

An Elusive Meaning of Robert Pinget’s Novel L’Inquisitoire (Based on the Comparative and Contrastive Analysis of Translators’ Solutions)

The article analyzes some special features of Robert Pinget’s style based on the comparative analysis of the original and the Russian translation. The stylistic effect of an ‘elusive meaning’ is considered within the framework of the French ‘le nouveau roman’. Several options of the title translation as well as analyzed lexical and syntactic challenges of the original are shown in order to reveal and highlight the artistic value of the original text.

The Alphabet and Functions of the Corporeal Pattern in the Poems by Elena Shvartz

The article substantiates the existence of a corporeal pattern as one of the languages of culture in the poems of Elena Shvartz. Some characteristics of its functioning in the author’s artistic space are considered. The existence of a stable and unique alphabet of the corporeal pattern is shown, its artistic functions are revealed.

Countess de Segur’s Novel Les Petites Filles Modèles in Modern Russian Translation

The article analyzes the Russian version of the novel Les Petites Filles Modèles by a French children’s writer Segur-Rostopchine (publishing house Enas-kniga, 2015). Two stages of the modern translation of the novel are considered from the point of view of rendering the individual author’s style of the work of fiction properly.

The Image of Solyony in Chekhov’s Play Three Sisters and Lermontov

The article shows how the behavior of Solyony, a character from Three Sisters, and a number of personality traits are similar to those of Lermontov. It is claimed that Solyony does not play Lermontov, indeed, he has Lermontov’s personality. The character dreaming of a different self becomes guilty of the misfortunes of characters dreaming about a different life.

Window Locus and Its Functions in I. S. Turgenev’s Novels of the 1850–1870s

The article researches the locus of window, closely related to the situation of an emotional turning point, love trial or characters’ enlightenment in I. S. Turgenev’s works. This locus highlights the stages of the characters’ spiritual path and is polysemic, but such archaic and traditional meanings of the window as a border between the worlds and the sign of trial become relevant for Turgenev.

The ‘Golden Age’ in the Russian Literary Context: Origin and Modern Content of the Mythical Image

The image of the Russian ‘golden age’ (the Pushkin era) is considered in the context of the general patterns of nostalgic mythmaking. It is shown that the idealization of the national past at different historical stages remains isomorphic to the generalized image of Antiquity, which is a contamination of the ‘golden age’ and the ‘century of heroes’. The literary criticism of the late Soviet nostalgia for the Pushkin era is an example of the combination of the ‘golden’ and ‘heroic’ centuries under the name of ‘golden’.

Genre and Thematic Diversification of Late Novels by Jules Verne

The article considers posthumous novels by Jules Verne only recently published in the original author’s versions. Despite the abundance of genre models, themes and intonations, they constitute a certain unity. Motives and characters, well known to the readers of Verne’s‘classical’ works, mix well with original narrative solutions.

Metalepsis in the Auctorial Notes in Marquis de Sade’s Novels

Metalepsis, the transition from one narrative level to another, is used by Marquis de Sade to expound his philosophical ideas, confirm the authenticity of facts, enter into dispute with Enlightenment’s ideology. The article analyzes the metaleptic function of the author’s notes in de Sade’s novels.

Hidden Wishes: August von Platen’s Sophisticated Way to Goethe

The article deals with August von Platen’s – an outstanding German romantic poet (1796–1835) – search for sources of inspiration, using ‘close reading’ as a basic interpretative method in gender poetics. In this article, for this purpose, the so-called Goethe’s ‘gender canon’, embracing specific Goethe’s works created between 1774 and 1821, was analyzed. This period of Goethe‘s creativity is a subject of fierce controversies in contemporary literary criticism, but specifically this period proved to be the most important for Platen’s formation as a minority poet.

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