Hero at a rendez-vous (Variant of the Middle of the 19th Century)
The paper presents investigation the plot hero at a rendez-vous frequency
in the Russian literature of the middle of the 19th century. Accent does to
function of writings by A. S. Pushkin («Eugene Onegin») and I. S. Turgenev
(«Rudin», «Asya») to forming of its structure and semantics.
Basic material is narrative stories with situation of reading and discussion
of writings by A. S. Pushkin and I. S. Turgenev: «Shadows of the past» (1850)
by A. Marchenko, «Gurin» (1861) by L. de Roberti and «Arina» (1862) by
A. Witkowski.
The paper is devoted to the study of the plot “hero at a rendez-vous”, which
develops at two stages in the Russian literature of the middle of the 19th century.
In the first part of 1850s the steady plot scheme were formed under the influence
of the Pushkin’s novel: the hero arrives to an estate and meets with the
heroine; the heroine falls in love with him and makes a declaration of love;
the hero rejects acknowledgement; he takes departure after explanation, the heroine
gets married; after a time the hero meets with the off cast heroine. Owing
to this plot scheme the main love-psychological conflict of the 1850s develops:
a hero is incapable to undertake responsibility for the heroine and recedes
at the decisive moment. The essence of modern characters shed light on the
meeting: a weak will, indecision, reflexiveness of the hero and on the contrary
resolution, emancipation, integrity of the heroine. The plot combination associated with the Pushkin’s novel in the middle
of the 1850s becomes plot cliché with some level of variability and the confined
possibility. The method of its actualization is modification of allusive spectrum
of individual component plot situations. The change of character’s reading is the
evidence of change of literary source. In the first part of the 1860s heroes read
«Rudin» and «Asya» instead of «Eugene Onegin». The change of Onegin’s
background for Turgenev’s background gives this plot combination the additional
productive potential. The actualization of this motive takes place under
influence of literary criticism, in particular, paper «Russian at a rendez-vous»
by N. G. Chernyshevsky.
In conclusion the author suggests this «open» denomination of source – writings
by A. S. Pushkin and I. S. Turgenev – is signal not only attraction of fiction
plot to it (i.e. copying) but also repulsion from it (i.e. «working»). Narrative
stories by A. Marchenko, L. de Roberti and A. Witkowski are first which the
new plot combination forms by transformation of precedential combination or
qualitative change of popular combination.
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Hero at a rendez-vous (Variant of the Middle of the 19th Century) // Критика и семиотика. 2018. № 2. Pp. 40–51. DOI: 10.25205/2307-1737-2018-2-40-53.