The motives of the parable of the prodigal son in novels “Number One, or In the Gardens of Other Opportunities” by L. S. Petrushevskaya and “Twins’ House” by A. V. Korolev
DOI: 10.23951/1609-624X-2023-6-143-151
The evangelical parable about the return of the prodigal son was repeatedly used as the subject of literary contemplation in the Russian classical literature of the 19th and the 20th centuries. The plot of the prodigal son parable is still popular in contemporary Russian literature. For example, the plot was originally interpreted in the novels “Number One, or In the Gardens of Other Opportunities” by L. S. Petrushevskaya and “Twins’ house” by A. V. Korolev. The central conflict “son – father” realized through key evangelical parable motifs of departure, return, forgiveness and love determine the issues raised in these works and their poetics. The analysis of these novels helps to distinguish various types of “dialogue” between contemporary writers and the evangelical text. L. Petrushevskaya inverts the plot of the parable, A. Korolev redefines the evangelical parable in a symbolic way. In general, the plot of the prodigal son parable is comprehended by the contemporary authors as a model for resolving the conflict of the generation gap, as a space for profound sacred meanings, and as a means of expressing the author’s genuine metaphor. The plot variants of the prodigal son parable explicate the meanings realized by the Gospel text on the “profane” and deep levels. Desacralized meaning of the parable can be reduced to the issue of ideal family relationships, which the contemporary writers yearn for and are trying to portray. The deep, Christian understanding of the parable is connected to the idea of the prodigal son’s resurrection understood as a discovery of a “new man” within himself. Number One in Petrushevskaya’s novel becomes the Hero, Valentin Drago of Korolev becomes the Personality. In addition, the evangelical motif of return in the contemporary works represents the authors’ genuine metaphors. The genuine metaphor in the novel of L. Petrushevskaya is the modern person’s acquiring his/her original identity, which is not related to material and hedonistic values. A. Korolev’s genuine metaphor consists in recovering the person’s subjectivity that had been lost because of the processes of standardization in modern society.
Keywords: modern Russian prose, parable of the prodigal son, plot, motif
References:
1. Chernov A. V. Arkhetip “bludnogo syna” v russkoy literature XIX veka [Archetype of the “prodigal son” in the n literature of the XIX century] In: Evangel’skiy tekst v russkoy literature XVIII–XX vv. [Evangelical text in Russian literature of the XVIII–XX centuries]. Petrozavodsk, PetrSU Publ., 1994. Pp. 151–158 (in Russian).
2. Tyupa V. I., Romodanovskaya E. K. Slovar’ motivov kak nauchnaya problema [Dictionary of motives as a scientific problem]. In: Tyupa V. I. (Ed.) Materialy k “Slovaryu syuzhetov i motivov russkoy literatury”: ot syuzheta k motivu [Materials to the “Dictionary of plots and motives of Russian literature”: from the plot to the motive]. Novosibirsk, Inst. Philology of the SB RAS Publ., 1996. Pp. 3–15 (in Russian).
3. Shatin Yu. V. Arkhetipicheskiye motivy i ikh transformatsiya v novoy russkoy literature [Archetypal motifs and their transformation in the new Russian literature]. In: Romodanovskaya E. K., Tyupa V. I. (Eds.) “Vechnyye” syuzhety russkoy literatury. “Bludnyy syn” i drugiye: sbornik nauchnykh trudov [“Eternal” plots of Russian literature. “The Prodigal Son” and others. Digest of articles]. Novosibirsk, In-t filol. of SB RAS Publ., 1996. Pp. 29–41 (in Russian).
4. Wierzbicka А. Sopostavleniye kul’tur cherez posredstvo leksiki i pragmatiki [Comparison of cultures through vocabulary and pragmatics]. Moscow, Yazyki slavyanskoy kul’tury Publ., 2001. 272 p. (in Russian).
5. Vereshchagin E. M., Kostomarov V. G. Yazyk i kul’tura. Tri lingvostranovedcheskiye kontseptsii: leksicheskogo fona, reche-povedencheskikh taktik i sapientemy [Language and culture. Three linguistic and regional studies concepts: lexical background, speech-behavioral tactics and sapientema]. Мoscow, Indrik Publ., 2005. 1040 p. (in Russian).
6. Gladkov B. I. Tolkovaniye Evangeliya. Repr. izd. [Gospel interpretation. Repr. ed.]. Sergiev Posad, Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra Publ., 1999. 767 p. (in Russian).
7. Theophylact, Archbishop of Bulgaria. Blagovestnik ili Tolkovaniye Blazhennogo Feofilakta arkhiyepiskopa Bolgarskogo na Svyatoye Evangeliye: v 4 tomakh. Kniga 3. Evangeliye ot Luki [The gospel preacher or Interpretation of Blessed Theophylact Archbishop of Bulgaria on the Holy Gospel: in 4 volumes. Book. 3. The Gospel of Luke]. Мoscow, Lepta Publ., 2005. 448 р. (in Russian).
8. Lebedushkina O. Pro lyudey i nelyudey [About people and non-humans]. Druzhba narodov, 2006, no. 1, pp. 190–198 (in Russian).
9. Uritsky A. Chelovecheskiye priklyucheniya [Human adventures]. Druzhba narodov, 2005, no. 7, pp. 208–212 (in Russian).
10. Petrushevskaya L. Sobraniye sochineniy. V 5 tomakh. Tom 1. Proza [Collected Works. In 5 volumes. Volume 1. Prose]. Kharkov, Folio Publ., Moscow, AST Publ., 1996. 398 p. (in Russian).
11. Kovaleva T. N. Motiv bludnogo syna v syuzhete romana I. A. Bunina “Zhizn’ Arsen’yeva” [The Motif of the Prodigal Son in the Plot of Ivan Bunin’s Novel “The Life of Arseniev”]. Problemy istoricheskoy poetiki – The Problems of Historical Poetics, 2021, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 301–325 (in Russian).
12. Petrushevskaya L. Nomer Odin, ili V sadakh drugikh vozmozhnostey: roman [Number One, or In Gardens of Other Opportunities: the novel]. Saint Petersburg, Amfora Publ., 2009. 251 p. (in Russian).
13. Il’in I. A. Religioznyy smysl filosofii [Religious meaning of philosophy]. Moscow, AST Publ., 2003. 694 p. (in Russian).
14. Sartr Zh. P. Bytiye i nichto. Opyt fenomenologicheskoy ontologii [Being and nothingness. Experience of phenomenological ontology]. Moscow, Respublika Publ., 2000. 639 p. (in Russian).
15. Kolmakova O. A., Zhornikova M. N. Khristianskiy “kod” v romane A. Korolyova “Dom bliznetsov”: kognitivnyy i kommunikativnyy aspekty [Christian “code” in A. Korolyov’s novel “House of the twins”: cognitive and communicative aspects]. Vestnik Buryatskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta – Bulletin of the Buryat State University, 2017, no. 6, pp. 138–144 (in Russian).
16. Zaslavskiy G. Razodrannyy mekh i veter vremeni: Anatoliy Korolyov o del’te postmodernizma, parakh mandragory i vozrozhdenii satiry [Torn bag and the wind of time: Anatoly Korolev about the delta of postmodernism, the pairs of mandrake and the revival of satire]. Nezavisimaya gazeta. 26.02.2015 (in Russian). URL: http://www.ng.ru/ng_exlibris/2015-02-26/2_persona.html (accessed 29 May 2023).
17. Korolyov A. Dom bliznetsov: roman-detektiv [Twins’ house: novel-detective]. Moscow, ArsisBooks Publ., 2016. 296 p. (in Russian).
18. Bibliya. Knigi Svyashchennogo Pisaniya Vetkhogo i Novogo Zaveta [Bible. Books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments]. Moscow, Bibleyskiye obshchestva Publ., 1995. 1376 p. (in Russian).
19. Petrovskiy V. A. “Ya” v personologicheskoy perspektive [“I” in a personological perspective]. Moscow, Higher School of Economics Publ., 2013. 496 p. (in Russian).
( 454.74 kB ) 
( 442.4 kB )
Issue: 6, 2023
Series of issue: Issue 6
Rubric: RUSSIAN LITERATURE AND LITERATURE OF THE PEOPLES OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Pages: 143 — 151
Downloads: 208