“PETERSBURG TEXT” BY TATYANA TOLSTAYA (motifs in the story “The Okkervil River”)

Authors

  • Ольга Владимировна Богданова (Olga V. Bogdanova) Institute of Philological Research of Saint Petersburg State University
  • Екатерина Анатольевна Богданова (Ekaterina A. Bogdanova) Institute of Philological Research of Saint Petersburg State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17072/2037-6681-2016-4-150-155

Keywords:

Tatyana Tolstaya, modern Russian literature, prose, postmodernism, tradition, intertext, motif, novel.

Abstract

In the article devoted to the analysis of “The Okkervil River”, a short story by Tatyana Tolstaya, a variety of motifs are distinguished and interpreted. Those refer the reader to the main motifs of Russian classical literature, however, their semantics is reconsidered by the contemporary writer and presented with different connotations. Saint Petersburg chronotope is analyzed, its simplification and shifts of spatial frameworks are considered. The ironic depreciation of the image of Saint Petersburg – Leningrad sets a playful (derisive) tone of the narration about the “little hero”, Simeonov, a descendant of poor Eugene from “The Bronze Horseman” by Pushkin, as well as Gogol’s and Dostoevsky’s “little heroes”.One of the leading motifs of the narration is that of a circle, closely interacting with the image-motif of the luring “silver voice”. It allows for revealing musical allusions, encouraging the development of the “romancing” intertextuality of the story.

Author Biographies

Ольга Владимировна Богданова (Olga V. Bogdanova), Institute of Philological Research of Saint Petersburg State University

Leading Researcher

Екатерина Анатольевна Богданова (Ekaterina A. Bogdanova), Institute of Philological Research of Saint Petersburg State University

Junior Researcher

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Published

2017-12-07

How to Cite

Богданова (Olga V. Bogdanova) О. В., & Богданова (Ekaterina A. Bogdanova) Е. А. (2017). “PETERSBURG TEXT” BY TATYANA TOLSTAYA (motifs in the story “The Okkervil River”). Perm University Herald. Russian and Foreign Philology, (4). https://doi.org/10.17072/2037-6681-2016-4-150-155

Issue

Section

LITERATURE IN THE CONTEXT OF CULTURE

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