THE POETICS OF N. N. TOLSTOY’S LONG SHORT STORY “PLASTUN”
Journal Title: Проблемы исторической поэтики - Year 2017, Vol 15, Issue 2
Abstract
The article presents the analysis of the main problems of the long short story “Plastun” by Nikolay Tolstoy (the elder brother of Leo Tolstoy), that is the life of a man kidnapped during the Caucasus War and forced to live all his life in captivity. In the centre of narration there is a real man though described as a generalized character as far as he does not have a personal name. Different periods of his life are marked by certain nicknames, such as Zaychik-Volkovoy-Zaporozetz. The main character tells the listener Tolstoy N. N., who shows the interest and compassion to his life, the story of his childhood and youth. As a child his nickname was a Zaychik. As an adult he became an experienced hunter and an expert in animal habits the fact that explains his new nickname – Volkovoy. The composition of the long short story is full of philosophical, psychological and ethic symbols and personifications, based on Sacred Writings and the Patristic Tradition. The childhood-youth part of the short story is particularly symbolic as then the virgin soul of the hero felt the presence of God and strived to pray. The images-symbols play an important role in the artistic world of the short story: a singing nightingale, birds, men-mice, the “glass” sea, fish and palaces in the Zaychik’s dreams.
Authors and Affiliations
Elena Belousova
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP298626
- DOI 10.15393/j9.art.2017.4363
- Views 149
- Downloads 0
RELIGIOUS MOTIFS IN “SEGODNYASHNIY LUBOK” AND “OKNA ROSTA AND GLAVPOLITPROSVET” OF V. V. MAYAKOVSKY
The propaganda posters in “Segodnyashniy lubok” and “Windows of satire of the Russian Telegraph Agency (Okna ROSTA) and Glavpolitprosvet” series are similar both in visual and verbal sense. Many artistic principles, firs...
THE GOSPEL CONCEPT IN THE NOVEL OF I. S. TURGENEV “ON THE EVE”
Turgenev’s novel “On the Eve” (“Nakanune”) is studied in relation to the Holy Scripture, in interaction with new lyrical and semantic contexts against the broad background of Turgenev’s creative works, as a whole. In the...
THE GOSPEL TEXT AND SUBTEXT IN THE STORIES “THE DAUGHTER OF A HIGH OFFICIAL” BY IVAN PANAYEV AND “THE PAINTER” BY VLADIMIR ODOYEVSKY
Ivan Panayev’s story “The Daughter of a High Official” and Vladimir Odoyevsky’s story “The Painter” were published in the journal “Otechestvennye Zapiski” (“Domestic notes”) in 1839. The plots of these stories are simila...
THE TURKIC WORLD OF THE RUSSIAN WRITER: “LEGEND ABOUT THE SIBERIAN KHAN, OLD KUCHUM” BY D. N. MAMIN-SIBIRYAK
The article studies the special aspects of the author’s conception of the East and the principles of the reconstruction of the way of life and mentality of the Turks in “Eastern legends” by D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak within th...
THE GOSPEL TEXT IN DESCRIBING THE HISTORY OF THE KIEVAN RULE IN THE 12TH CENTURY (ACCORDING TO THE HEGUMEN MOISEI’S CHRONICLE AND THE NIKON CHRONICLE)
his article studies the Gospel quotations in the description of the history of the 12th century Kievan rule in two compillations of East Slavic chronicles. An important problem concerning the principles of representing h...