DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2017.4.24191

Abstract: The subject of the research is the microdetails used by Ivan Goncharov in his novel 'Oblomov' and their artistic function in the text. The author of the article pays special attention to the dialectical contradiction between the 'shadow' image of the dust on which the key word 'oblomovschina' is written and which defines the internal dynamics of the novel and the solar essence of the main hero himself. The author of the article analyzes the microdetails of the novel 'Oblomov' in close relation to the macrolevels of the novel and interpreting the phenomenon of scale in the artistic world created by Ivan Goncharov. The methodological basis of the research involves analysis of particular aspects of the linguistic microstructure of the novel that are systemically important in Ivan Goncharov's novel. The method of 'reading after the author' combined with cognitive commentary allows to analyze very little, even individual graphemes, artistic components that nevertheless have a metastatus in Goncharov's text. The novelty of the research is caused by the fact that attempts to combine the 'higher' and the 'lower' artristic structures in Goncharov's studies that have been made by researchers earlier are now being viewed in a completelty different analytical light. For the first time in the literature the author of the article describes the dialectical contradiction between the image of the dust on which the key word 'oblomovschina' is written and which defines the internal dynamics of the novel and the solar essence of the main hero himself

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2017.3.23191

Abstract: The article is devoted to the communication aspect of Chekhov's works. In his research Pyrkov tries to 'open up' the 'dialog windows' in Anton Chekhov's short story The House with the Mezzanine. The phenomenon of the mezzanine that acquires the status of an extended metaphor in Chekhov's creative writing is associated with the author's worldview evolving from newspaper light verses and satire to broad-scale generalizations when the writer still uses every opportunity to express his opinion regarding nettlesome issues of his time including overcoming social barriers in the first place. In his research Pyrkov views the image of mezzanine as an extended metaphor of the dying Russian manor house. In his research the author has used the method of close reading that allows to reveal the writer's humanistic ideas that play a conceptually important role in his dialog with the readers. These ideas are hidden behind the decorative illusory images of the story. The 'spot analysis' of the writer's speech also allows to verify the researcher's hypothesis about a special artistic role played by communication links used by Anton Chekhov in his prose. The main heroine of The House with the Mezzanine is also interpreted in a new light as a personality type that inevitably has to leave the forefront of Russian history and literature and break the communication chain of the time. The personality of the mother of the Volchaninov sisters is also given a new interpretation as a personality type that had exhausted her role in the communication with that century. 

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2017.2.23192

Abstract: The article is devoted to the reception of Ivan Goncharov's creative writing by Pyotr Polevoy whose three-volume edition 'The History of Russian Language Arts' has become a rare book nowadays and therefore is very seldom viewed by modern commentators. The author of the article focuses on those thoughts and conclusions of Pyotr Polevoy who personally knew the author of Oblomov that allows to see the figure of Ivan Goncharov in a new light and to understand the most sophisticated aspects of a creative portrait of the great novelist, in a word to better understand Goncharov's creative legacy. The methodological basis of the present research is the analysis of little-known literature sources, in particular, The History of Russian Language Arts written by Pyotr Polevoy. The novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the author brings forth unknown interpretations and remarks made by Pyotr Beisov, the researcher of Ivan Goncharov's life and creative writing in Pyotr Polevoy's edition of The History of Russian Language Arts held by the famous researcher of Goncharov in his personal library in Ulianovsk. The author of the present article proves that many private remarks made by Pyotr Polevoy regarding the narrative method of the author of Oblomov are of great importance and value for modern studies of Goncharov's life and creative writing.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2017.2.23338

Abstract: In his article Pyrkov studies the process of changing traditional attributes and symbols of a Russian manor in Chekhov's dramaturgical world based on the example of Anton Chekhov's drama 'Three Sisters'. Particular attention is paid to the comparison of a symbolic 'elated' image of columns described by Chekhov in the first remarks to the 'lower' image of the pedestal that appeared in the song sang by one of the heroes. The researcher tries to understand the message that Anton Chekhov wanted to give us through transformation of the 'high' into the 'low'. The researcher also tries to define social and historical grounds for that process. The research is based on the reaccentuation of a classical text and attempt to make a new dimension of reading of the play as a result of multidimensionality of a literary text containing parameanings that play an important role for the text's analysis. By referring to the literary context of that epoch, the author analyzes the dynamics of the development of Chekhov as a playwright. The novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the author draws a parallel between the column and pedestal which leads to quite an unexpected interpretation of Chekhov's play as well as offers a hypothesis that transformation of the manor symbols directly relates to constructing a fundamentally new model of space and time in the artistic world of Anton Chekhov.