2016 Issue №2

This article analyzes the dialogue between D. S. Merezhkovsky and Fedor Sologub that showed their vision of “poshlost’” (vulgarity, banality), which in turn had been informed by the legacy of N. V. Gogol. The author traces the analogies in the artistic depiction of poshlost’ by Sologub in his novel “The Petty Demon” (1905) and the critical interpretation of the phenomenon of poshlost’ by Merezhkovsky. The connection between Merezhkovsky’s study “Gogol and the Devil” (1906) and “The Coming Kham” (1906) is also shown. Sologub’s reaction to the article “The Coming Kham” is noted, that shows that he considered the works by Merezhkovsky as the development of issues raised in the novel “The Petty Demon”.

The author analyses challenges that the main character faces during his involuntary journey. The challenges result in not only the character’s social climbing, but also lead to the development of his personality. A comparison of the journey story models of the mythological character and Byron’s main character makes it possible to conclude that in the poem, the greatness of man, who is able to assert his will in his argument with destiny, becomes the most important sacred value. This value becomes the main outcome of the main character’s journey of life.

The author examines the poetic specificity of depicting Drohobych and Prague using the novels «Cinnamon shops» and «The Hourglass Sanatorium » by Bruno Schulz and the novel «The Trial» by F.Kafka as an example. It is alleged that an insurmountable boundary between nature and culture leads to the creation of the negative myth of the city in Kafka's works, while for B.Schultz the connection between nature and spirituality of the city returns the author to the idea of the mythical alfa and omega of life. The article describes the image of the city-labyrinth which both authors associate with the motif of wandering whereas the cathedral is associated with the paternal archetype.

The article presents the analysis of motif-structure of the novel by Richard Aldington «All men are enemies» (in particular, its relationship with the system of characters of the book). Sets of motifs corresponding to specific stages in the development of the image of the main character were identified; a nuclear-peripheral motif model was built where the movement of motifs from the nucleus to the peripheral zone demonstrates the importance of a particular event at the plot level of the novel. The movement of story and fable motifs reflects the evolution of the main character’s relations towards reality and its conscious refusal to become a part of a post-war society.

The article considers the Heideggerian principle of autonomy as a philosophical principle of self-dependence of Being, and its actualization in Murdoch’s works. The motif of autonomous reason as a «barrier»against the light of Being, the motif of mechanization of thought and feeling in the world of metaphysics completing itself, together with Platonic motifs and the esthetic diagnosis of the «death of light» in the 20th century (H. Zedlmayr), form the poetology of light in Murdoch’s works in the context of the abandonment of Beingthemed in the West European art and culture of the 20th century.

The author analyses the works of singer songwriters, i. e. lyrics of bard songs and rock poetry, from the point of view of their plot and their place in the typology of texts. The author identifies a discrepancy between the principles of building the plot of songs and the methods of creating the poetic model of the world in the central and peripheral areas of this type of songs. This internal asymmetry of the analysed context is associated with the borderline position of the songs in literature.

The paper presents analysis of ekphrasis as part of artistic structure in D. Tartt’s «The Goldfinch», its plot and images of characters. The paper proves that ekphrasis helps the writer to describe the important tendencies of the existence of culture in the contemporary society. Existential motifs connected with the meeting of characters with the art treasures are also analyzed.

In the article the author attempts to consider some demonstrations of the dialogue of cultures in the works of arts of German-speaking authorsby the example of the novel by Alina Bronsky “Broken Glass Park” (“Scherbenpark”). The point lies in theidentification of the different levels of the dialogue of cultures: linguistic, common, mental. The successful integration on all the levels is an important aspect for the adaptation into the foreign-lingual space and the definition of the self-identity between the cultures.