Миксантропические персонажи и их роль в графическом романе М. Этвуд «Ангел-Котоптиц»

Abstract

The aim of the study is to determine why the famous Canadian writer Margaret Atwood turns to mythological characters that have a hybrid, or mixanthropic, appearance in her graphic novel ‘Angel Catbird’ (2016). The paper examines the history of the development of the comic book genre and its special format, the graphic novel; emphasis is also placed on the different attitudes to this genre among Russian and foreign researchers. Moreover, the features of M. Atwood’s graphic novel ‘Angel Catbird’ and its differences from other works in this genre are considered. The study concludes with an analysis of the nature of the main characters and their connection not only with human nature (in a narrow sense), but also with the peculiarities of the development of Canadian literature and culture in general (in a broad sense). The scientific originality of the study lies in the fact that the paper considers the system of images of the novel ‘Angel Catbird’ from the perspective of the duality of their consciousness and mixanthropic appearance. In addition, it is the first time that M. Atwood’s graphic novel has been analysed taking into account the use of mythological images and traditions of different peoples. As a result, it has been proved that the use of mixanthropic characters in the graphic novel is linked to the multifunctionality of their images.