THE STRUCTURE OF ARTISTIC SPACE IN PAVEL VEZHINOV’S NOVELLA “THE BARRIER” AND “A GENTLE CREATURE” BY FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY

Abstract

Background: The article deals with the intertextual analysis of two novellas: The Barrier by Pavel Vezhinov and A Gentle Creature by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The methodological basis of the study is the interpretation of intertextuality as a product of reading (not the phenomenon of “writing”), according to which Vezhinov and Dostoevsky – writers belonging to different national cultures and historical eras – in some sense become contemporaries. Accordingly, A Gentle Creature, written earlier, is enriched by the meaning as a result of its comparison with The Barrier, as well as the latter by comparison with the story of Dostoevsky. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the intertextual connections of Pavel Vezhinov’s novella The Barrier and A Gentle Creature by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and to show how they deepen the content of both works in the reader’s perception. The analysis of texts is carried out within one level – the artistic space, which is “an author’s model of the world, expressed in the language of his spatial representations”. Results: Comparative analysis of the elements of spatial code and analysis of the characters’ behavior through the type of artistic space corresponding to each of them allows to understand the in-depth content of each of the two works. The storyline of both stories is based on one type of rite de passage – the transition from life “to another life”. The expected result of this transition is a radical spiritual transformation of the character and a new identity acquired by them. The events that make up the plot, in the two stories largely coincide and the last in their series is the suicide of the female character. The main character of The Barrier is a person who has gone astray and wanders within an open plane space. Meeting him with Doroteya, the character of the “vertically directed path” within the “open, voluminous space”, provokes the beginning of the “spiritual transformation” in him. However, the suicide of the female character again throw Antoni over the "barrier" of social conditioning that he managed to overcome with the help of Doroteya, and makes it impossible for him to acquire a “new identity”. The pawnbroker from A Gentle Creature is a “character of the point space” who has never been able to “expand the space” throughout the story. However, the suicide of the female character is reported as such an event, from which a real rite de passage can begin for the character, culminating in his acquisition of a way up and a radical spiritual transformation. Key words: intertextuality, artistic space, rite de passage, spiritual transformation, transfiguration.