DOI: 10.25136/2409-8698.2023.1.39451

Abstract: The paper deals with the study of peculiarities of mythopoetics inclusion in British and American literatures. In particular, it highlights the specificity of the way English-speaking writers refer to such mythopoetic images as tree, raven and dragon. The study is done on the works by famous fantasy and sci-fi writers: John Ronald Reuell Tolkien, Roger Zelazny, Jack Vance and George Martin. A wide range of writings in various genres of literature brings certain difficulties connected with the selection of the study material. The criteria applied to fictional texts selected for the undertaken research are as follows: the degree of influence of a particular writer, the significance of mythologemes under consideration in terms of a particular text, and their level of reinterpretation in the writings of selected novelists. The novelty of a given research is connected with considering selected mythopoetic images in the context of particular examples of British and American fantasy and science fiction never regarded together before. The research findings highlight two leading directions of English-language literatures references to the world mythopoetic heritage of ancient times. Firstly, we see the way such mythologemes as tree, raven and dragon are interwoven in the fictional discourse to create a medieval atmosphere; secondly, writers incorporate archetypical images into their texts as elements of their own myth. The second direction seems to be more promising for it results in new interpretations of classical images rather than their exploitation in new texts, thus encouraging the expansion of their symbolic content.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8698.2021.4.35298

Abstract: The subject of this research is the unique literary technique of the prominent American fantasy and science fiction writer Roger Zelazny, the author of the world-renowned novels, such as “The Chronicles of Amber”, “This Immortal”, "The Lord of Light”, etc. The article is dedicated namely to determination of the key peculiarities of the poetics of his works. Special attention is given to characterization of his literary path, its periodization, the impact of Zelazny's predecessors – the authors of science fiction and classical world literature – upon his prose. It is noted that R. Zelazny was fascinated with various mythological systems, such as Egyptian, Greek, Norse, Celtic, and Christian. The scientific novelty of this article lies in the attempt to reveal and systematize the most remarkable features of the works of the American fantasy and science fiction writer, whose impact upon the modern fantasy literature can hardly be overestimated; however it has been poorly studied within the Russian literary studies. The conducted analysis of the poetics Roger Zelazny’s iconic novels, created within the framework of the four main stages, indicates the use such postmodernist literary technique as intertextuality. The matter of R. Zelazny is also characterized by psychologism, interpreted as the author's attention to the meticulous reconstruction of the inner cosmos of the hero, which resembles the result of the writer's passion for the ideas of psychoanalysis. Along with the other representatives of the New Wave, Zelazny was prone to the experiment with forms, as well as to the synthesis of the various fantasy genres. Therefore, many of his novels demonstrate the fusion of science fiction, fantasy, space opera, mystery, and detective fiction.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8698.2019.4.30610

Abstract: The matter under research is the image field 'ship' viewed in terms of world science fiction based on the analysis of novels written by such authors as Lukian Samosatsky, Jonathan Swift, Jules Verne and Author Clarke. The researchers focus on the analysis of symbolic meaning of the image field 'ship' in literature in general and science fiction in particular. In their article they attempt to analyze peculiarities of literary interpretation of core elements of the image field 'ship' offered by different authors. Their aim to develop a full picture about the matter of study. The methodology of the research is based on complex analysis of the matter under research including such kinds of analysis as culturological, literary, intertextual, historico-literary and literary-biographical. The scientific novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the authors analyze the symbolic content of a mythopoetical image of ship viewed as the image field in terms of world science fiction. Conclusions made by the author as a result of the research are the following: 1) mythopoetical image of ship is widely presented in science fiction novels and is still important today; 2) science fiction writers represent all three components of the core of the ship image field in their novels. 

DOI: 10.7256/2409-8698.2017.1.22216

Abstract: The object of the study is the intertextuality of Corwin cycle. The subject of the research is made up by allusions of first five parts of the Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny. In particular, the article touches upon numerous allusions to different fiction texts and myths, among which are the works by English classics as well as Celtic and Bible legends. The study material is constituted by such parts of the cycle as Nine Princes in Amber, The Guns of Avalon, Sign of the Unicorn, The Hand of Oberon, and The Courts of Chaos. The methods used in the study are: the method of intertextual analysis, textual method, and the method of comparative analysis. Scientific novelty of the given research is in the first ever attepmt to track the regularities of Zelazny's use of allusions and reminiscences in his works, and in his most famous novel the Chronicles of Amber in particular; to understand the way the intertext functions in the text corpus by the American fantasy writer. The main findings of the research undertaken are as follows: each part of Corwin cycle can be referred to a particular piece of world literature, or regarded in the context of this or that mythology system; allusions to mythology used by Zelazny play the plotforming function thus helping the writer to create the fantasy basis of the cycle's secondary world; distinctive literature allusions aim at revealing the main character's inner world, showing his psychological evolution, and also at making fictional characters comprehensible to modern readers; allusions to the Book of Revelation, in their turn, are used by the writer to create the key image of the whole cycle - the image of Apocalypse.