motive

The article examines Mandelstam’s unrealized project «Seven Poems» (1930 – 1931). A hypothesis of a cyclic nature of this group of poems, of their imagery and thematic integrity and correlation with other Mandelstam’s cycles is formulated.

Stylistic function of the motives of hearsay and fame are studied in the plots of «Old-World Landowners», «Viy», and «The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich» by N. V. Gogol. Their role in the plot and the chronotopos of the works is considered, as well as their meaning in the space of the stories, their linkages with the motives of emergency and disclosed mystery are regarded.

The article analyzes the figurative structure of a poem by A. A. Fet «Obrochnik» (collector of rent). It being considered and interpreted in the context of the Orthodox tradition gives us insights into the problem of «Fet and religion», reveals the life and poetry credo of the author.

The article considers the motive of rumor in its spatial and time expression based on the cycle of «Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka» by N. V. Gogol. The stylistic functions of the rumor motive in the novels’ plots and the internal link with the folk tradition are researched.

In the article Petersburg stories are analyzed in terms of the motive of the steadfast gaze. The process of visual «completion» of reality by Gogol’s characters is described.

The author of the article singles out the main problem of Bulgakov’s tragedy which is a distinctive feature of his plays as well as of epic compositions and of his personal world-view. The author claims that the main profound conflict in Bulgakov’s works turns to be the collision of fortune and fate generally presented in the world literature from Ancient Greeks to our days. The researcher emphasizes some special traits of Bulgakov’s stories of 1930s such as deceptiveness of fortune, prediction of the denouement in action.