Literary criticism

The article studies how the artistic works of A. G. Bitov are perceived by the Russian and German criticism. The approaches of postmodern and postcolonial theories to the awareness of the author’s contribution in the development of the Russian literature are considered on the material of the works representing the ‘Caucasus text’. The history of A. G. Bitov’s texts being translated into German is addressed.

The article discusses the relevance of philosophical and ethical problems featured in Veresaev’s book for contemporary medical knowledge. Notes of a Doctor are considered as an example of interdisciplinary synthesis, which in many ways have anticipated the approaches of bioethics.

The article considers Inferno by Dante Alighieri as one of the precedent texts for the novel The Petty Demon. The author supposes that Dante’s‘infernal’ connotations transform in the novel into the motive of deception which forms the plot of the novel. The motives that go through the whole novel (of mud, swamp, blindness and madness) as well as zoomorphic comparisons and allusions to the first cantos also reveal other aspects of Sologub’s plan and the distinctness of the poetics of the novel.

The article discloses the images of a fairytale character Cinderella in the literary heritage of Western Europe and the East. The comparative analysis of the character’s external and internal qualities is carried out, the relation between fairy tales and myth-ritual basis is ascertained, totemic motives of the characters are examined.

Published memoirs of A. A. Shakhmatov are an important source of study of the life and work of A. N. Pypin. On the basis of the living testimony, the main directions of scientific and organizational activities of Pypin during his tenure in the Academy of Sciences are considered, certain aspects of his personality are revealed.

The article updates the issue of theoretical and practical understanding of how the reading activity is transforming these days. The author proves the necessity of developing an in-depth content of the questionnaire technique in order to study reading due to its social and cultural value and the current agenda of modern literary education.

The article discusses the intertextual connections of Vodolazkin’s novel The Aviator with V. Nabokov’s prose. The article specifically focuses on the function of Nabokov’s intertext in unveiling ideological and philosophical problems: comprehending the phenomenon of time and the creative ability of memory. The role of the word and literature in the struggle against amnesia is considered.

The article identifies and analyzes the elements of the parable inherent in L. E. Ulitskaya’s novel Jacob’s Ladder. It is noted that the parable spirit permeates both individual fragments of the text and the entire novel. The parable is manifested on the levels of content, range of philosophical issues and the style of the text: the language of the work is notable for the simplicity of expressive means.

The article considers the chronotope of the novel Rough Draft by S. Lukyanenko, its special features being due to the combination of two genres – urban fantasy and conspiracy novel. Even though both genres contain some common motives and figures, in the work by Lukyanenko urban fantasy genre prevails, because the main character himself mainly forms the chronotope: slows down the time, creates new locations by the power of his mind (rooms, buildings etc.).

This paper covers the analysis of Jewish identity in the works of the French writer Georges Perec. The author comes to the conclusion that this problem has a significant impact on the poetics of Pereс, it is presented in the techniques of formal constraints and the ‘aesthetics of absence’, the purpose of which is to reconstruct Perec’s memory and past by means of language play.