Temple-related Poetics of Goncharov’s Meta-Novel

Abstract

The article justifies the representation of Goncharov’s temple-related tetralogy, which includes “A Common Story”, “Oblomov”, “The Precipice” and “Frigate ‘Pallada’”. Temple-related and liturgic principles of the tetralogy are defined as the measure of its structural and conceptual integrity. Paths of heroes in the novels under discussion lie within the “temple-related model” and should be evaluated in line with the axiology of this model. The storyline associated with Alexander Aduev is considered as “vulgar travel”, “pseudo-pilgrimage” to Saint-Petersburg, the city which became “Russian Europe”. The novel “Frigate ‘Pallada’” focuses on the peculiar “narrative” status of the hero, and this focus allows to combine “inner” and “extra” storylines. The novel highlights certain changes in paths of hero who moves backward to “the great Motherland” instead of moving forward to “the progress”. Concerning the novel “Oblomov”, one can notice that this writing justifies the point associated with “dynamics” of the hero’s “interior life” who travels inside and reorients himself from the West to the East. The article considers “The Precipice” (“Obryv”) as Goncharov’s most “pedalogical” novel with its focus on “Russian brinks”. Boris Raisky ran the gamut from an amateur artist to the artist — “man of the soil”. The novel emphasizes the significance of territories of “provincial Russia” struggling to “heal misguided paths” and to eliminate “precipices” of Russian History.