PARAPHRASES AND PARALLELS IN THE 1917–1918 FEUILLETONS BY A. V. AMFITEATROV

Abstract

The article focuses on the poetic devices that are a part of the artistic system of A. V. Amfiteatrov, a well-known publicist and prose writer, a leading feuilletonist of the early 20th century. The subject of the study is his feuilletons of the post-Revolution period published in Russia until August 1918. The paper reveals the political stance of the publicist on the revolutionary events of 1917, his attitude to the February and October revolutions. The paper provides an overview of the themes and plots of Amfiteatrov’s printed speeches of this period — these are the responses to socio-political events and social issues. Further, the paper analyzes specific examples of rhetorical devices from his articles — direct parallels, paraphrases, deliberate citation of works of classical literature. The author’s artistic and ideological goal-setting paradigms are traced; the critical attitude of the author to the post-revolutionary reality that emerges through comic techniques is revealed. The main sources of paraphrases and parallels for Amphiteatrov are, first of all, satirical works from Russian classical literature — N. V. Gogol, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin; as well as G. I. Uspensky, A. P. Chekhov and L. N. Tolstoy, M. Gorky. He extrapolates the quotes and specific situations from these texts onto contemporary reality. The article also provides unknown biographical facts related to the life and work of the publicist in 1917–1918.