Modern Russian Prose Research Articles

SCOPE AND FLIGHT IN LITERARY IMAGES OF OUR TIME: METAMORPHOSES OF THE IDEA

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the idea of flight in fiction and the scope it provides for the representation of a person’s real vision or the symbolic designation of psychological states and understanding. The interpretation of one’s perspective as a personal quality and a property of space or time is also considered. The comparison of literary works is focused on the expressive approach аin the scholarly heritage of the 20th-century outstanding philosophers and aestheticians M. Bakhtin and A. Losev. The novel Aviator by Evgeny Vodolazkin, a representative of modern Russian prose, is analyzed in detail. The ideas and interpretations of flight in the works of R. Bach, A. de Saint-Exupery, and other famous writers of the past century are compared. The dependence of the destinies of those who strive for flight on the historical turns of their time is demonstrated. The main value of the concept of flight for these authors lies in the breadth of human horizons, in the “vigilance of the heart” and “touch to the soul.”

Scientific terms as a part of comparative tropes of modern Russian prose

Modern Russian prose is characterized by the active use of scientific terms from different fields of knowledge, which act as images of comparison for comparative tropes. Such tropes are marked by stylistic emphasis, as they contain new information for the addressee. Comparative tropes are defined as metaphors and similes of various structural types. The purpose of our work is to analyze the use of scientific terms as images of comparison for comparative constructions and determine their functions in the texts of modern Russian prose. The material for the study is the works of E. Vodolazkin, A. Ivanov, A. Ilichevsky, A. Matveeva, V. Pelevin, D. Rubina, A. Salnikova, O. Slavnikova, M. Stepnova, O. Vasyakina and others. The article discusses terms in tropes representing different fields of science: physics, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, biology, physiology, linguistics, literary criticism, art history, and computer science. The most active in the comparative tropes of modern prose are biological, medical, physical and computer terms. The productivity of these terms is associated with the rapid development of these areas of knowledge and their role in modern society. Regarding parts of speech, most of them are substantives. By metaphorizing, terms are subject to determinologization. In prose texts, terms often have distributors that clarify, specify or modify the image of comparison. In modern prose, scientific terms as part of tropes perform a number of functions: the function of figurative characteristics of a person, object or phenomenon, the evaluative function, the text-forming and conceptualizing functions. Scientific terms as part of metaphors and similes replenish and update the literature language.

Pushkin and his texts in the mirror of metaphors and similes of modern Russian prose (to the 225th anniversary of the birth)

The article examines comparative literary tropes, including the precedent name Pushkin, the names of the poet s characters, and quotations from his works. The material for the study is modern Russian prose texts mainly obtained from the Russian National Corpus. The paper aims to identify the types and functions of the mentioned comparative tropes. We used structural-semantic, comparative, and corpus methods in the process of analysing the linguistic material. The article shows that modern Russian prose regularly employs both the precedent name Pushkin (and the adjective Pushkinian / Rus Pushkinsky derived from it) and the names of Pushkin s characters, some realia depicted in the poet s texts, as well as quotations from his works. It is noted that the considered comparison tropes consistently perform the intertextual function and the function of figurative description of the characters and depicted realia and situations. The study shows that turning to Pushkin s images in modern Russian prose enhances the vividness of tropes, extends, enriches, and renews them. Nevertheless, several metaphors and similes, including the precedent names of Pushkin s characters, are characterised by image pejoration and are associated with ironic expressiveness.

Modern Russian prose abroad: perception, translations, research

The article is devoted to assessing the current state of contemporary Russian literature abroad in terms of interest from foreign readers, influence from the Russian emigrants, the volume of translations and topics of interest. The article analyzes the cultural aspects and periods of Russian history of literature that are of particular interest to foreigners, as well as their reflection in modern prose in Russian. The article also focuses on the centers for the promotion of Russian culture abroad, as well as centers/chairs for its research at universities.

Comparative Constructions with Images of Flowers in Modern Russian Prose

The subject of study are comparative constructions (metaphors and similes) which include the names of flowers. The material for the study is the texts of modern Russian prose, as well as contexts extracted from the Russian National Corpus. The purpose of the paper is to analyze these constructions in comparison with the tropes of the previous period. The images of comparison, the objects of comparison and the bases for comparison of comparative tropes have been considered, their semantic classification is presented. In the course of the study, the
 following conclusions were drawn: images of flowers are not as productive in modern prose as compared to other semantic classes of images of comparison, such as classes of zoonyms and names of artifacts; at the same time, they form a
 significant fragment of the metaphorical world image in modern prose. New elements appear in the composition of metaphors and similes with images of flowers, the range of objects of comparison is also expanding. In modern prose, traditional metaphorical models are preserved, but they are rethought and their character is partially changed. The use of flower images in modern texts is predominantly anthropocentric with an emphasis on the human bodily plane, which distinguishes them from functioning in the previous period. Modern prose is characterized by a tendency to lower the image when using the considered comparative tropes.
 Comparative constructions with images of flowers act in modern texts in various functions: a function of figurative characteristics of various objects, an evaluative function, and, more rarely, an intertextual one.

Comparative constructions in modern Russian prose: the evolution of figurative comparison

The research explores the changes undergone by comparative figurative meaning constructions (metaphorical and similative) in modern prose texts in comparison with earlier periods of Russian literature development. The article aims to identify trends in the evolution of comparative constructions in modern Russian prose. The need for a multidimensional description of linguistic processes in modern literary speech determines the relevance of the study. One such process is the evolution of figurative comparison in comparative constructions. We analysed the material of the works by such modern Russian prosaists as Yu. Buyda, V. Zalotukha, Ye. Vodolazkin, A. Ivanov, Z. Prilepin, A. Ilichevsky, T. Kibirov, A. Matveyeva, O. Slavnikova, M. Stepnova, D. Rubina, G. Yakhina and others. Additionally, we used contexts obtained from the National Corpus of the Russian Language. The research employed descriptive, structural-semantic, and comparative methods. The main attention is given to the appearance of new elements in the traditional range of comparative metaphorical and similative constructions. They denote realities which have recently emerged, including those related to computer technology and terms from various fields of science. The article concludes that in modern prose texts, the range of figurative comparative constructions is expanding on the basis of genus-species and synonymic relations. The revival of comparative constructions is accompanied by frequent concretisation of figurative comparisons, which increases the size of such constructions. As a result, they can include one-word definitions, semi-predicative phrases, and subordinate clauses. Thus, the figurative comparison becomes detailed and multidimensional. At the same time, there is a tendency to a stylistic degradation of figurative comparison used in modern Russian prose.

SYNTACTIC EXPRESSIVENESS IN DESCRIBING THE AILMENTS OF YOUNG CHARACTERS IN THE NOVEL TURN OFF SPELLING BY EVA NEMESH’S

The relevance of the study is determined by several facts: firstly, in recent years, the interest of linguists in studying the expressiveness and emotionality of a child’s oral and written speech has enhanced; secondly, in modern teenage prose, which is part of the school curriculum, descriptions of children’s health defects and ailments are increasing; thirdly, consideration of expressiveness manifestation in the text at the syntactic level contributes to a better understanding of the ideological content of the work.
 The purpose of the study is to identify the main syntactic means of expressing expressiveness in modern children’s and youth prose, highlighting the ailments of child characters, and to determine their meaning based on the material of Eva Nemesh’s novel Turn Off Spelling.
 The scientific novelty of the study consists in the fact that the ways of expressing emotionality and evaluation when describing the ailments of young character in a work of modern Russian prose addressed to children are considered for the first time.
 Results. The current research describes the frequency syntactic means of expressiveness in the description of childhood ailments in E. Nemesh’s novel Turn Off Spelling. It was found that, when creating an asymmetric syntactic drawing, a children’s author refers to such expressive constructions as inverse word arrangement (32%), repetitions and its varieties (5%), segmentation (13%) and parcellation (22%), as well as to rhetorical constructions – 15% (rhetorical questions, exclamations, addresses and question-exclamation forms) and to ellipsis (2%). The expressive potential of the specific composition of sentences is considered (complex sentences – 41%, simple sentences – 59%), special attention to single-compound verb-type sentences is paid (27%).

Transformation of Yuri Kazakov's Prose translated by Fei Qin into Chinese

The subject of the study is the features of the reception of Yu. P. Kazakov's prose in China. Translations of Kazakov's prose into Chinese have not yet been discussed in science, which determines the novelty of the proposed study. In general, the transformation of the Russian literary text, which takes place when translated into Chinese, has been the subject of active study in recent years, and the relevance of the subject of the article is connected with this.The object of the study is translations of Kazakov's works made by Fei Qin, who most consistently turned to his texts in China. The article draws on the data of Fei Qin's biography, uses historical and literary approaches, as well as elements of linguopoetic analysis to solve comparative problems. Russian writer Fei Qin (1927-1994)'s analysis of the creative path makes it possible to understand the internal reasons for the appeal to this Russian writer of the Chinese writer, who since the 1950s was fond of Russian lyrical prose, the same age as Kazakov. A comparison of Kazakov's story "The Night" and the translation of this story by Fei Qin demonstrates the inevitable differences between them, despite the translator's declared desire to accurately convey the meaning of the original text. Some of the most expressive differences are due to the fact that the Chinese translator, interpreting modern Russian prose written by his peer, includes elements peculiar to classical Chinese poetry (onomatopoeia with doubling of hieroglyphs, some traditional images), introduces personifications that are absent in the original work. It is also shown why the literal translation, which in some cases is resorted to by Fei Qin, does not allow to convey the semantic complexity of the original.

Chronicle of a Scientific Seminar with International Participation “Dynamics of Comparative Constructions and Types of Their Interaction in Modern Russian Prose”

Chronicle of a Scientific Seminar with International Participation “Dynamics of Comparative Constructions and Types of Their Interaction in Modern Russian Prose”

Функционирование оценочных субстантивных метафор и сравнений в современной русской прозе

Функционирование оценочных субстантивных метафор и сравнений в современной русской прозе

The role of metaphor in the embodiment of female images (In the novel by Ludmila Ulitskaya "Sincerely Yours Shurik" as model)

The research deals with metaphors as being one of the primary means used by Lyudmila Ulitskaya when writing the novel " Sincerely Yours Shurik ", to form diverse and multifaceted collective female images of representatives of the classic psychological patterns presented in the work. This research reflects the results of the study related to the work of Lyudmila Yevkinevna Ulitskaya, an actress of modern Russian prose. The novel "The Sincerely to You Shorek" is one of Ludmila Ulitskaya's creations (the year of writing - 2003), which, like her other works, is distinguished by a unique presentation style, rich vocabulary, lexical and semantic diversity, and a special style of writing. writer. The main objective of the research is to look at the metaphors in which the author forms the images of the protagonists in the text space, and with the development of the narrative, and their role in shaping the plot of the work. In the course of the study, the following tasks were accomplished: identifying the metaphors that make up the female images of the novel “Sincerely Yours Shurik”, which were classified during text analysis, and distributed into “heroine/psychotype” groups, as well as the analysis of the above-mentioned forms of speech along with the formation of The plot of the work in general.

О синтаксической интерпретации русской прозы конца ХХ — начала ХХI века

The appeal to the syntactic interpretation of modern prose discourse is motivated by the inadequacy of a grammatical approach to new linguistic phenomena, an obvious gap between cultural studies, literary studies and linguistic studies. The article examines the functioning of syntactic units in Russian prose of the late XX — early XXI centuries, punctuation and graphic arrangement of statements and text. Special attention is paid to the multicomponent complex utterance as an indicator of modern prose writer’s style. Syntactic processes are analyzed in language, speech and textual aspects, which allows interpreting the peculiarities of author’s styles. In the language aspect, changes in the field of simple and complex sentences are characterized, some contradictions in their qualifications are resolved. In the speech aspect, the author considers the influence of the spoken element and visualization tendencies on the literary norm, in particular, the transformation of a structure with direct speech, the development of interaction between monologue and dialogical speech. In the textual aspect, the role of modern Russian prose in the formation of new syntactic phenomena is revealed. The material of the article is the works of E. Vodolazkin, V. Pelevin, L. Petrushevskaya, D. Rubina, T. Tolstaya, V. Makanin, V. Tuchkov, A. Matveeva and other authors.

Names of Literary Characters in the Comparative Constructions
 of Modern Russian Prose

The article deals with comparative constructions (metaphors and similes)
 with names of literary characters. The paper notes that comparative constructions
 with precedent names in modern prose develop the traditions typical for Russian lit-
 erature of the previous period and consistently act as signs giving different types of
 culture. The material for the analysis includes texts of modern Russian prose. It is
 noted that precedent names of the characters of both Russian and foreign prose are
 widely represented in them. We have compiled a glossary that includes the names of
 literary characters widely known to native speakers. The paper shows in what aspects
 the names under consideration characterize the characters (appearance, actions and
 behavior, intellectual and moral qualities, etc.).
 The papermakes a conclusion that precedent names are used in compara-
 tive constructions of different structural types (metaphors; similes including
 verbs, adjectives, substantives; similes-appositions), while similes prevail, since
 they more clearly highlight a certain feature characterizing a person. The article
 notes that in the prose of recent years, the precedent names are consistently
 adapted to the depicted modern situations, which is manifested in the nature of
 their definitions. It is emphasized that in modern prose, tropes with precedent
 names are often characterized by ironic expression and combined with definitions that reduce the image. Based on the texts of modern prose, the study highlites comparative constructions, including the names of characters and their functions,
 such as intertextual, evaluative, plot-forming, personifying ones.

ОБРАЗ ЛИТЕРАТУРНОГО ГЕРОЯ В РАННЕМ ТВОРЧЕСТВЕ РОМАНА СЕНЧИНА

The article analysis the literary character in the writings of Roman Senchin. Following traditions of new realism Roman Senchin depicts in his writings a hopeless and meaningless world in which the person is mired and from which they can not escape. His hero is a “little man”. The character of “little man” of XIX and XX centuries evolves significantly from XXI century due to artistic significance. New decade has brought numerous changes including lifestyle and values. With the onset of the two thousandth, the habitual way of life of many people has changed, and along with it the value guidelines. The aim of the article is analysing the transformation of the “little man” in modern Russian prose, taking such novels as “Nubuk”, “To live, to live”, “Ice underfoot” as an example of the writing. The work uses comparative historical and sociological methods. Research results. In the literature of the XXI century, the image of the “little man” differs significantly from the artistic specificity of the works of the XIX and XX centuries. With the onset of the two thousandth, the way of life of many people has changed, and with it the value guidelines. Based on the analysis of the works of Roman Senchin, it can be concluded that the author illustrates the disease of the present era, the name of which is “routine”. The diagnosis of the disease is a lack of will to live, a sense of the meaninglessness of one’s own existence, the inability to realize oneself as a person, spiritual disorientation, neurasthenia. The “little man” of the new era is characterized by such states as detachment, aloofness, indecision, nervousness and social disorientation.

Modern Russian Prose: Media and Hidden Names

Modern Russian Prose: Media and Hidden Names

Comparative Structures and Narration Composition in Modern Russian Prose

Comparative Structures and Narration Composition in Modern Russian Prose

Hypertextuality Of Tolstoy's Prose

This article highlights the intersection of realism and postmodernism of the 20th century and the hypertextuality of Tatiana Tolstoy's prose. The purpose of the article is to study the poetics of mythological prose, methods and forms of mythologization in modern Russian prose. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that this article seeks to consistently explore not only the myth, but also the mechanisms of mythologization and demythologization in Tolstoy's prose, as well as to identify the axiological and ontological features of mythology in the writer's texts. The theoretical significance of the article consists in the further development of theoretical knowledge about the categories of mythopoetics, the deepening of ideas about the mythologism of literature and the genre features of the mythological novel. The practical significance of the article lies in the fact that its materials can be used in lecture courses and seminars on the history of modern literature, the theory of myth, as well as in the works on T. N. Tolstoy.

Modern «philological novel» Discourse as an artistic experiment: Figl-Migl’s prose

The article presents a certain way of modern transformation of the so-called “philological novel” in the modern Russian prose. The author asserts that this genre, which has a profound tradition and generally rests upon quite traditional philological gnoseology and axiology, has changed significantly since, e.g., “Pushkin’s house” by A. Bitov, and the reason for this change is radical transformation of basic concepts of artistic discourse. The status of fine literature and its social functioning, the issue of Author and his/her dialogue with the Reader, the very nature of a word, especially a “foreign” one, have changed. Modern literature does not pretend to be didactical anymore, as it had in a sense been in classical paradigm of the Author/Reader relationship, and it is gradually transforming into an intellectual game with ready-made linguistic and ideological constructs. The purpose of the article is to study the ways modern artistic discourse of Figl’-Migl’s “philological novel” transforms. The research rationale is explained by the absence of scientific works, dedicated to the specific discourse of such novels, in the modern Russian theory and history of literature. The author considers that Figl’-Migl’s prose is distinguished by universal ironization of the total intertextuality, that is common for postmodernism; by principal tendency for the absence of anyone’s “own” word at all, and by the author’s and the protagonist’s reluctance to associate themselves with any distinctly identifiable axiological and ideological system, including the “love for word”. Artistic discourse of Figl’-Migl’s novels may be considered experimental, since the author, by imitating various types of “foreign” discourse, playing with them and bringing together characters, absolutely unimaginable within one and the same dialogue, as discourse carriers, puts them in contexts, unusual for them and for the reader, but virtually modelled by the whole history of the Russian literature, which is present in the novels as a background and a full participant of the dialogue’s events.

Этнические миры в прозе Е.В. Рудашевского

The article deals with the research of Russian and American so called ethnic worlds (cultural backgrounds) in the novel «Bessonitsa» (“Insomnia”) by E.V. Rudashevsky. The other of the novel is a representative of YA literature in modern Russian literature. The relevance of the research is due to the investigating a possible links between American and European cultures in the novel, and the comparison of the American and Russian value systems. The article examines the genetic links between “Insomnia” and new journalism, a popular trend in the US press in the 1970s, as well as American cinema and the work of European writers, artists, and film Directors. Much attention is paid to the generic nature of the novel, the form of the narrative, the problems and images of the characters. The research results make the following conclusions: the idea to describe and compare different ethnic and cultural worlds is characteristic of Rudashevsky’s novel; the depth of Den's inner world disclosure makes the work an important event in modern Russian prose; the poetics of “Insomnia” is largely based on the thematic and aesthetic settings of the American new journalism.

Gastronomic Vocabulary in Comparative Constructions of Modern Russian Prose

The article discusses metaphors and similes that include culinary vocabulary and are used in modern literary texts. The purpose of this work is to examine the functioning of comparative constructions, including images of food and drinks, in modern Russian prose. The article suggests thematic groups of the images, which are often used to characterize various objects. The results show that the most voluminous and frequent in use are names of fl our products, dairy products and cereals. The article analyses the objects of comparison, among which the most frequent are the units associated with the image of a person, his/her appearance, emotions and behavior. There is a tendency to specify and detail the images of food and drinks in the composition of comparative structures, which is manifested in the regular use of specifi c names and qualifying definitions. It is shown that gastronomic comparative constructions perform various functions in modern literary texts: a characterological function, an evaluative function and a text-forming one. It is concluded that modern Russian prose presents both traditional metaphors and similes of the groups under consideration, as well as their individual author transformations and new, original tropes.