Metamorphoses of the motif of solitude in N. Barshev’s works through intertextual prism

Abstract

Aim. The article deals with studying existential component of Barshev’s works. The aim of this article is to consider the motive complex of solitude (ennui, estrangement, pilgrimage, perplexity) through intertextual prism using such Barshev’s stories and novels as Big Bubbles, The Citizen Water, The Fourth etc. as an example.

Methods. The method of the motive analysis, the conceptual base of which is suggested in B. Gasparov’s works, is applied in the article. The research is also based on the conceptions of native scientists, who studied the problems of intertext (Z. Mints, N. Fateeva) and context (К. Taranovskij).

Results. The article reveals the specificity of functioning of the solitude motif in Barshev's works. The motive complexes that refer to Chekhov’s prose and drama (Uncle Vanja, Ennui, The Steppe) and Petersburg stories by N. Gogol are characterized. The semantics of Yesenin’s intertext in Barshev’s prose (Big Bubbles, The Forgotten Antenna) is studied and the analogy with Platonov’s prose is drawn. It is shown that the intertextual references serve as an incarnation of the eternal spiritual-moral collisions and outlines the boundaries of existential dimensions, in which a man, according to Barshev, is doomed to exist.

Scientific novelty Nikolai Barshev’s works aren’t reflected in literary studies enough. This research is a part of broader study of existential motifs in writer’s works.

Pactical significance. The results of the research can be applied in further study of the literary process in the 1920 – 1930s, for the courses of the Russian literature history in high-school, for special courses and seminars, which are devoted to the literature of late modernism.