There Is Absolutely no Life…
The article presents a structural-semantic analysis of a N. Leskov’s
story “The Devil-Chase” (“Chertogon”) in order to establish some particularly
meaningful elements of the text and show how they direct and determine the
understanding. In particular, there are some utterances, a narrative perspective,
a narrative program, as well as some multiple variable focalizations, which
show a narrative subject in focus of different points of view. As for a narrative
organization, the told story is enclosed between two reflected sentences: (1)
“there is absolutely no life” and (2) “...he feels life again” with a key link episode,
such a devil-chase (‘chertogon’), as a condition for transformation of
‘non-life’ in ‘life’ in the time interval t0 ‒ t0+1. In a narrative perspective, the
so called rite, described in the story, includes some several episodes (subframes),
such a riotous night in a restaurant, ablution in baths and praying before
the icon of Virgin of All-Waving (“Vsepetaya”), connected by a causal implication
A → B → C. So ‘fall’ is necessary implicated by ‘ascension’, as being concerned
in a mutter and condition, behind only a basic opinion, what the narrative
subject believes, as a ground and a “good popular faith” as guarantee for truth.
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There Is Absolutely no Life… // Критика и семиотика. 2019. № 1. Pp. 243–253. DOI: 10.25205/2307-1737-2019-1-243-253.