Semantics of Lermontov's poetic myth about the Demon in The Islanders by N.S. Leskov

Abstract

The subject of the study is the negative-evaluative, satirical layers of the novel "The Islanders" associated with the image of the demonic hero, who, thanks to M.Y. Lermontov, acquired the meaning of an archetype and a poetic myth in Russian literature. The object of the study is N.S. Leskov's stylistic techniques and ideological motives underlying the "desacralization" of the romantic myth. The author examines in detail such aspects of the topic as 1) the role of Lermontov's poem "The Demon" and romantic poetry of the 1840s in the formation of the myth of the demonic hero; 2) semantic deformations that led Leskov to the deviation of the myth from its conventional meanings; 3) the satirical mode used as the main method of creating the image of Istomin. Particular attention is paid to Leskov's satire in its function of "recoding" the myth. The main conclusions of the conducted research are: the image of the artist Istomin is entrusted with the author's task to debunk the romantic myth. For this reason, evaluative and emotional vocabulary, elements of satire that express the point of view of the "subjective" narrative are grouped around it. All this gives the image a semantic transparency that contradicts the "mysterious code" of the myth of Romanticism. A special contribution of the author to the study of the topic is the discovery of the connections of the myth of the demon with the myth of Prometheus, which is important for understanding the complexity and versatility of the semantic core of the phenomenon under consideration. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the author reveals the main motive of Leskov's satirical manner. Its meaning is not to create a "myth about a myth" or an "anti–myth"; in the novel, a "non-myth" is formed in order to achieve the complete elimination of the literary myth about the demonic hero. Satire is necessary for a writer to typify, not individualize, a character.