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

Literary criticism

Zakhar Prilepin on Leonid Leonov: to the Question of the Writer’s Literary Landmarks

Researching the reasons of Zakhar Prilepin’s interest to Leonid Leonov’s oeuvre, the author of the article proves that by experiencing the difficult way of an eminent writer’s formation, the features of his artistic world, Leonov’s biographer acquires an opportunity to look more closely into himself, into his own style, to realize the correction of his own creative search.

V. Sorokin’s Concept of History and Its Artistic Representation in the Novel Day of the Oprichnik

The article researches the meaningful components of V. Sorokin’s artistic world picture: the idea of the ‘Russian metaphysics’ and ‘historic trauma’. The universal mythologem of oprichnina serves as the main means of their artistic representation.

Polyphony or Dialogue? Narrative Strategies in A. I. Solzhenitsyn’s Novel Cancer Ward

The article offers the analysis of narrative strategies in the novel Cancer Ward as a significant component of the author’s creative method, which was being formed in 1950-1960s. The idea of A. I. Solzhenitsyn’s prose being polyphonic is considered controversial.

The Anatomy of the ‘Soviet’ in the Literary Process of the Turn of the XX–XXIst Centuries: A. I. Solzhenitsyn and V. P. Aksyonov (Part II)

The second part of the article is dedicated to the analysis of the key motive and thematic complexes together determining the peculiarity of the ‘soviet’ reality as artistic unity, actualized in the works by A. I. Solzhenitsyn and V. P. Aksyonov (written and published at the turn of the XX–XXIst centuries). The phenomenon of fear is considered in the line of the ideological foundation of the ‘soviet’ system.

Ways of Creating Psychological Portraits of the Characters in Pasternak’s Novel Doctor Zhivago

The article substantiates the conclusion that the basis of the psychological portraits of many characters, as well as of the composition of the novel Doctor Zhivago, contains parallelism and isomorphism; and their compositional unity allows the author to reveal the family and spiritual affinity of the characters, as well as to express his position.

Fairy-tale and Fantastic Vaudeville by E. Schwarts Adventures of Hohenstaufen: Genre Poetics

The article analyzes an early play by Evgeny Schwarts Adventures of Hohenstaufen. The text poetics features are distinguished on the levels of the action development, character images, language humor. The genre dominating idea is identified. The author reveals how the vaudeville, the fairy-tale, and fantastic, and the satiric elements in the text interact. In the focus of the author’s attention is the motive of a ‘usual’ miracle/magic reflecting the aesthetic principle of the playwright.

Poetics of I. Ilf’s Novella The Master of the Jews

The article considers the poetics of the novella The Master of the Jews by I. Ilf first published in 2003. The author considers the image system of the text and the features of the artistic statements, which allow to draw the conclusion about the significance of The Master of the Jews as a praetext of the kind for the works of I. Ilf and E. Petrov.

Saratov Ditty to the Accordion: to the Genre Source

The article aims at the study of the sources and existence of the most popular genre of the oral folklore – a ditty. Due to the peculiarities of the regional tradition, in Saratov region of the Volga there is a special ditty style of performing to a Saratov accordion which has made this genre a special signature phenomenon and has created a definite ‘sound ideal’ of the traditional culture of the region.

Karamzin’s Code in B. Okudzhava’s Novel A Date with Bonaparte. Article 2: Liza Svechina

The article regards how significant elements of the main character image in N. M. Karamzin’s novel and «Liza’s complex» described by V. N. Toporov are transformed in the plot lines of B. Sh. Okudzhava’s novel A Date with Bonaparte related to Liza Svechina. The motives of the incongruity of reality and the ideas from books and the topic of suicide set in Poor Liza, associated with the Decembrist theme, accentuate the problems of forced reorganization of society and personal responsibility.

The Roman Empire in the Lyric Poetry of the Late Soviet Period (Jaаn Kaplinski and David Samoilov)

In the present paper the extent of allusions to topics in the history of Ancient Rome is assessed within the officially accepted Soviet literature. Different instances of interest towards the Roman antiquity among the poets of the second half of the ХХ century are classified and accounted for. The social and literary context of Rome-inspired Jaаn Kaplinski’s ( Vercingetorix, 1967) and David Samoilov’s ( Remus and Romulus, 1969) lyric poetry is assessed, as well as their relationship with the Classical subject matter and the 19th century civil poetry.

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