TRANSFORMATION OF THE INFERNAL WITHIN THE IDYLLIC: N. V. GOGOL — L.N.TOLSTOY — I. A. BUNIN
Journal Title: Проблемы исторической поэтики - Year 2017, Vol 15, Issue 3
Abstract
Based the short stories of N. V. Gogol (“Viy”), L. N. Tolstoy (“The Devil”), I. A. Bunin (“Mitya’s love”) the storyline of transformation of the diabolic within the idyllic is seen in its evolution. A mythological subject of the appearance of the cosmos out of the chaos is related to the destruction of the idyll. The Chthonian character that extends its power to Khoma and Irtenev manifests itself in unexpected conditions: idyllic, “peaceful landscapes” reveal the possibilities of a back awful metamorphose. While Khoma is seduced beyond his will, Irtenev is seen as an initiator in the story with Stepanida. In both situations relations of authorities as a regulator of social structure are kept current: an orphan seminarist gets seduced by a rich and noble young woman; in contrast, by inviting Stepanida, Eugene appeals to his position of a nobleman. Finally, both characters find themselves subjected to the demonic power that covers all the other relations of domination and submission. In the era of sentimentalism the idyllic canon was “acosmic”. Gogol and Tolstoy brought back its cosmism, and Bunin, coming after them, partly turned back to sentimentalistic acosmism by disclosing better the catastrophe of individual consciousness in a lyrical way.
Authors and Affiliations
Sergei Shultz
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP301392
- DOI 10.15393/j9.art.2017.4502
- Views 101
- Downloads 0
THE SEMANTICS OF COLORATIVES IN TOLSTOY’S NARRATIVES (“THE DEATH OF IVAN ILYICH”, “THE KREUTZER SONATA”, “THE DEVIL”)
In Tolstoy’s stories of the 1870s the coloratives have negative semantics. In “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” the yellow color “implicates” a movement to death. In “The Kreutzer Sonata” this color aggravates Pozdnyshev’s mora...
KIRGHIZ STEPPE IN THE TRAVEL NOTES AND ESSAYS OF M. M. PRISHVIN: IMAGOLOGY AND POETICS
The article investigates the cross-cutting images and themes related to topography of the Kirghiz steppe (now North-Eastern Kazakhstan) in the works of M. M. Prishvin. Three early Prishvin’s texts — a Siberian diary “A J...
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...
MORE ON THE EVANGELICAL SENSE OF THE PARABLE “FISH SOUP” BY I. A. GONCHAROV
The article deals with the parable-short story of I. A. Goncharov “Fish Soup” (“Uha”), written presumably in July-August of 1891. It is aimed at altering the predominating opinion about the writer’s final literary work a...
THE GOSPEL MOTIF IN THE WORKS OF N. S. GUMILYOV
Historically, the Gospel motif (a message about salvation of the mankind) appeared in various genres of Christian literature. Today in literary studies it becomes urgent to study not only the textual parallels with the G...