Роман М. В. Семеновой «Валькирия, или Тот, кого я всегда жду» как фольклоризованный квест

Abstract

The research presented in the paper consists in highlighting the structural elements of the novel and examining its structure according to the methodologies of V. Ya. Propp and J. Campbell, as well as in comparing the structure of this work with the quest organization model proposed by computer games researchers. The aim of the study is to show that the path of the heroine in the novel “Valkyrie, or The One I’m Always Waiting For” is a folklorized quest. The author of the paper proposes a new term – ‘a folklorized quest’, which involves the implementation of folklore motifs based on the quest structure, and also explores the path of the main female character of the novel, analyzing each stage of the quest from the perspective of its functional significance. The stages of the path represent transitions from one community to another, the receiving of initiations – both real, accompanied by rituals, and internal, psychological ones, meeting the requirements of solving the psychological conflict of the heroine. The scientific originality lies in the fact that the quest model has been for the first time applied to a work of Slavic fantasy based on the example of the novel by one of the founders of this genre, M. V. Semyonova, as well as in defining a new notion of “a folklorized quest”. As a result, it has been proved that M. V. Semyonova’s novel “Valkyrie, or The One I’m Always Waiting For” has a quest structure and is a folklorized quest.