Transformation of a Literary Character’s Identity in the Artistic Mirror of Buryat Novels: from Soviet to Рost-Soviet

Abstract

In this article, the authors make an attempt based on an analysis from the point of view of neo-historicism to look again at the history of the development of Buryat novels, to analyze the features of constructing the identity of the main characters in works written by famous Buryat writers at different historical stages. The relevance is due to the absence of scientific works devoted to identifying the transformation of the identity of literary characters under the influence of historical eras. The purpose of this article is also to study the influence of various historical contexts on the work of writers in order to find out the pattern of manifestation of the ethnic identity of the Buryats in the historically determined dynamics of social development and their artistic embodiment. The most famous novels by Buryat writers of the 20th century served as the material for the study. Being a significant genre of Buryat literature, the novel has a natural connection with history since its inception, which makes it another channel for understanding the influence of the historical process on the identity of the Buryats. The authors analyze Buryat novels, which are an artistic medium for Buryat writers, with which they can write about national identity. Buryat novels are influenced by the social and historical environment and have features at different stages of history. Historical events and characters depicted in Buryat novels reflected the process of identity transformation in artistic form. The authors come to the conclusion that the identity of the heroes goes through stages from the desire for unification under the influence of Soviet ideology to the formation of a new identity of a USSR citizen, and to the conclusion about the revival of ethnic identity at a new stage. The research perspectives include the study of the transformation of identity in other genres of Buryat literature.