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

Literary criticism

Paul Claudel, an interpreter of the Song of Songs

«Paul Claudel interroge le Cantique des Cantiques» («Paul Claudel questions the Song of Songs») is a landmark work in the oeuvre of Paul Claudel (1868-1955), it is one of the largest artistic and exegetic commentaries in the collection of prose «Le Poëte et la Bible» («The Poet and the Bible») (1998, 2004). The writer creates a new «Claudelian novel» in Bakhtin’s understanding of the novelistic word, based on the centuries-old tradition of multiple interpretations, on the one hand, but built into a work of art, on the other.

A doll as a character of the Rococo novel “La Poupée” (1747) by Jean Galli de Bibiena

The article analyzes the novel “La Poupée” (“Doll”) by a French writer of Italian origin Jean Galli de Bibiena, which introduced into the literature of the 18th century the theme of the doll mentoring an adult. The doll character combines, on the one hand, the ideas of the era about “man-machine”, the fascination with “live” automations, on the other hand, the tradition of depicting fairy-tale creatures, concentrated in Montfaucon de Villar’s book “Count Gabalis”.

Saratov’s plot in Yu. N. Chumakov’s letters

The article discusses the place of Saratov-based plot in Yu. N. Chumakov’s letters addressed to the author of the article. The subject of discussion in the correspondence is the defense of Yu. N. Chumakov’s dissertation at Saratov University in 1970 and its role in his scientifi c biography. The defense of the dissertation with Yu. M. Lotman as the fi rst opponent became the key event of the Saratov plot and its climax.

“Personal geography” as an auto-document (Based on the material of the modern Russian prose)

The article deals with the concepts of auto-document (ego-document), the combination of the artistic and documentary, “personal geography”, which are relevant for the current stage of the literary process. The main purpose of this study is to show, using the example of the latest works of Russian prose, the importance of geographical addresses (understood as spatial landmarks) for the movement of the plot, as well as being a meaning-generating component not only of documentary, but also of artistic texts themselves.

Images of eccentric characters in Raymond Carver’s short stories (Based on the short-stories from the collection “Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?”)

The article deals with the images of eccentric characters in the short stories “Jerry and Molly and Sam” (1972), “Fat” (1971), “They Are Not Your Husband” (1973), “Neighbors” (1971), “The Idea” (1972) written by an outstanding American writer of the second half of the 20th century R. Carver.

The myth of the earth in the late lyric poetry of O. E. Mandelstam (Based on the material of the “First Voronezh Notebook”)

Mandelstam’s creative thinking is similar to the mythological one. This is refl ected in his lyric poetry as an artistic whole and in individual author’s myths. The article presents the analysis of some features of the author’s myth about the earth, which was formed in the “First Voronezh Notebook” by O. Mandelstam.

Creative self-identifi cation of Vladislav Khodasevich in the book “Derzhavin”

The relevance and novelty of this article lie in the analysis of creative self-identifi cation in the book by V. Khodasevich “Derzhavin” (1931), which is an access to the author’s thought. This study is based on the methods of the Russian psychoanalyst Ya. M. Kogan, set forth in the book “Identifi cation and its role in artistic creativity” (1926). This work has never been considered in literary criticism from this perspective. The works of modern scientists are also taken into account: D. P. Bak, K. A. Krylov, V. I. Tyupa, E. V. Kharitonova, M. A.

“The Goat” by M. Zoshchenko and “The Overcoat” by N. Gogol: To the question of intertextual connections

Zoshchenko’s “The Goat” and Gogol’s “The Overcoat” have a strong intertextual connection. The quoted image of the “little man”, the plot, motif reminiscences, similar narrative peculiarities disclose the writers’ literary succession. In this article we will analyze the intertextuality of the writers’ prose on the example of “The Overcoat” and “The Goat”, and consider Zoshchenko’s transformation of Gogol’s plots, motifs; we will fi gure out what meaningful functions the intertexts are performing. The main results are summarized as follows.

French poems of Nikolay Gumilyov

Paris, regarded for centuries as the literary capital of the world, the literary ‘homeland of choice’, gave shelter (permanently or temporarily) to many great writers. Poets all over the world have dreamed of gaining access to the French reader; it has tacitly been considered a special stepping stone to global recognition. At the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the paths of many Russian poets crossed in Paris. It was there that Gumilyov met A. Tolstoy, M. Voloshin, A. Bely and others.

Psychological aspects of power in Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and The Light

The last novel of Mantel’s Cromwell trilogy is approached through the lens of the contemporary theory of power. As a historical novelist, Mantel opens up the mentality behind political and social forms of power under Tudor monarchy, the dominance of traditional medieval system and, in Cromwell’s attempt to create bureaucratic government, the emergence of power devoid of the coating of sacredness.

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