FAIRY-TALE INTERTEXT IN LENA ELTANG′S NOVEL “STONE MAPLES” (PART 1)
DOI: 10.23951/1609-624X-2020-3-53-62
Introduction. The importance of the poetics of intertextuality in the novels of the modernist writer Lena Eltang has been repeatedly emphasized by critics and researchers. The appeal to the intertext increases the semantic density of the narrative, serves to convey the specifics of the consciousness of Eltang characters that exist in parallel in the realities of social relations and culture/texts. Material and methods. Intertextual and motivational analysis based on the works of I. Smirnov, M. Gasparov, B. Gasparov, and I. Paperno was applied. Also, the theoretical basis of the research is the works of folklorists and psychologists devoted to the motivational structure of folklore tales about an orphan girl, the plot of initiation (O. M. Freudenberg, E. N. Eleonskaya, R. Efimkin, etc.). The research material is Lena Eltang’s novel “Stone maples”. The purpose of the work is to identify the semantics and functions of the fairy-tale intertext in Lena Eltang’s modernist novel “Stone maples”. Results and discussion. The analysis of the novel allowed us to establish the correspondence of the plot logic of the novel to the motivational structure of the magic and literary fairy tale illustrating the stages of initiation. But, firstly, unlike a fairy tale, the Eltang novel is a prose of a “stream of consciousness”, focused on the disclosure of the inner world of a person. Secondly, the complex subject organization of the novel text, compared to the fairy tale, allowed Eltang to build allusions to fairy tales of different subtypes (about female and male initiation) in the storylines of different characters. The main character of the novel Sasha Sonley is building an association of his life with a fairy tale. In its storyline, it is important not only to match the archetypal plot, but also to try to change it. Despite individual efforts, the fate of the central heroine is built in accordance with a fabulous invariant about an orphan girl (in which the author’s, supra-personal will is manifested): mother’s death, loss of father’s protection; con frontation to stepmother; rivalry with stepsister; victory of the stepdaughter thanks to a magical means (maternal amulet), which also contributes to the search for the groom. The function of the mother’s talisman in the novel is performed by Travnik – “secret notebook”, which combines the diary and the set of recipes for traditional medicine. It is perceived as a channel of communication with the deceased mother, plays a key role in finding the intended. Conclusion. Despite efforts to “rewrite” the fairy-tale narrative, Sasha is forced to go through the entire archetypal plot of initiation before rebirth, restoration of harmony. In the spirit of modernism, based equally on the achievement of psychoanalysis and cultural archaic model, the plot of initiation of the heroes of the fable is built in accordance with a folk tale, but this outwardly-event outline corresponds to the inner story is psychologically complex living of its late maturity, separation from feelings of guilt towards parents and resentment toward them, parting with the past for the future.
Keywords: modernism, literature of Russian emigration, intertext, fairy-tale images and motifs, initiation, Lena Eltang
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Issue: 3, 2020
Series of issue: Issue 3
Rubric: TOPICAL ISSUES OF LITERARY CRITICISM
Pages: 53 — 62
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