Anthropological function of the chronotope in the plot of the “Russian Robinsons”

Abstract

The anthropological approach to a work of art is a current trend in literary criticism. Man is the subject and object of artistic anthropology. Using the traditional literary concept of chronotope, this article attempts to explain the place of a person in the picture of the world of a work of art. The work pays special attention to the category of chronotope, in particular to its anthropological function. The anthropological function of the chronotope is analysed in the novel “Beruny” (1933) by Zinoviy Samoylovich Davydov. When creating his original work, the author was inspired by the story about the six-year wintering of Russian sailors on Edge Island in the 40s of the XVIII century, which was beloved by the Russian reader. The main research methods are: chronotopic text analysis, proposed by V.V. Savelyeva, A.F. Kofman, N.K. Shutaya, E.A. Komarova, A.B. Temirbolat, et al. and cultural-historical analysis. Z. Davydov's narration forms the national features of the collective image of the “Russian Robinsons”. The specificity is conveyed in the author's descriptions of the heroes' perception of space and time. The literary achievements of Z. Davydov are analyzed through the prism of two particularly important elements of any literary text - the chronotope and the image of the hero. The chronotope determines the personal qualities and thoughts, behavior and deeds of the “Russian Robinsons”. The purpose of the study is to establish the relationship between a certain chronotope and the characters' cognitive reaction to the author's indications of the coordinates of space and time, to trace the textual manifestations of the characters' inner experiences. The constructs of time and space in the novel by Z. Davydov are analyzed, and a typology of characters in his story about the disasters of the “Russian Robinsons” is built. As a result, a typology of behavioral models of “Russian Robinsons” in liminal conditions was compiled.