Literary criticism

The article compares the aesthetic views of V. Nabokov and M. Aldanov on the role of contingency in history, in human’s fate, in creative process. Their articles, short stories and novels «King, Queen, Knave», «The Gift» by Nabokov, «The Cave» and «Sources» by Aldanov, Aldanov’s philosophical «The Ulm Night» make up the materials for the research.

The article contributes to the study of B.L. Pasternak’s personal and creative identity as depending on the circumstances of his epoch. The object of study is formed by Pasternak’s reflections on the principles of creating fiction found in his epistolary heritage of the 1910-s – 1960-s. 

The latest novel by V. Pelevin is looked into а$ а text centered оп е language, as demonstrated by examination of plot, motive structure, key metaphors and style of the novel. The parallels are suggested between Pelevin's idea of the place аnd function of the language аnd the twentieth-century language philosophy, as well as post-structuralist language concepts. 

The article deals with the symbolic meaning of the medieval novel and its genre nomination. The word "romanz" and the genre of the novel itself refers to Rome and the prestigious, legitimizing tradition, one way or another connected with Rome. in this sense, a medieval novel can be considered as a specific secular and literary analogy of the strategy of "empire transfer".