Suchergebnisse

The image of Russia in Joseph Conrad's literary works has been discussed in both Russian and Western literary studies. The correlation between the image of Russia and the writer's aesthetic position, the relations between the Russian and Western worlds, the Russian national character and the place of Russia in human civilisation are reflected in Conrad's famous novels The Secret Agent and Under Western Eyes: however, The Warrior's Soul and The Heart of Darkness have not been studied so closely from this point of view. Using the methods of imagology and receptive aesthetics, the author argues that the image of Russia in Conrad's literary world is a complicated phenomenon, with features of social and political aggression and tendencies to self-destruction caused by an oppressive political system. The retaliatory open social aggression, its organised forms, its impulsiveness, and cruelty make such traits of the Russian national character as passion, cynicism, love for abstract ideas, and lack of principles come to the fore. Other features typical of Conrad's Russian characters are intrinsically connected with the boundless territories of Russia. They are indefinite in everything: empathy, sensibility, and irresponsibility. The quality of "openness" in the Russian space and character gives Conrad's Russia an open, unknown, non-oppressive future. Conrad depicts Russia as part of contemporary European, or universal, civilisation, which is, at its core, aggressive and dark. Life penetrates Conrad's Russia, as well as his European world, through individuals who, under any circumstances, choose humanity, compassion, and self-sacrifice. ; Вопрос о специфике образа России в художественном творчестве Джозефа Конрада неоднократно обсуждался как в отечественном, так и в западном литературоведении. При этом открытыми остаются вопросы связи образа России с эстетической позицией писателя, взаимоотношений русского и западного мира, русского национального характера, места России в человеческой цивилизации. В статье с использованием методологии компаративистики и имагологии, а также идей рецептивной эстетики они рассматриваются на материале как известных романов The Secret Agent («Секретный агент») и Under Western Eyes («На взгляд Запада»), так и менее изученных с этой точки зрения произведений – The Warrior's Soul («Душа воина») и The Heart of Darkness («Сердце тьмы»). Показано, что основу конрадовского художественного образа России составляют черты социально-политической агрессии и тенденции к разрушению, вызванной деспотической политической системой. Ответная открытая социальная агрессия, ее организованные формы, импульсивность и жестокость предстают связанными с глубинными чертами национального русского характера: страстностью, цинизмом, любовью к абстрактным идеям, отсутствием четких принципов. Безграничные пространства России определяют другой ряд черт русских героев Конрада: неопределенность во всем, эмоциональную отзывчивость, восприимчивость, безответственность. За этим рядом просматривается открытость – особое качество русского пространства и русского характера. Именно она дает конрадовской России неведомое, но новое, не связанное с агрессией будущее. В то же время Россия в художественном мире Конрада предстает частью современной европейской или общечеловеческой цивилизации, в сердце которой бьются тьма и агрессия. Свет жизни проникает в конрадовскую Россию, как и в европейский мир, через отдельных людей, которые при любых обстоятельствах выбирают человечность, сочувствие и самопожертвование.

This book is devoted to the problem of perceiving and describing the national Other. It is focused on the British myth of Russia as a product of such perception and description, and considers this myth a particular semiotic structure developed in British culture and a sustainable mental unit of collective British consciousness

The article is devoted to the image of childhood as one of the most complex aesthetic elements in Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre. The paper argues that there are two primarily important characteristics of the image in the novel: polyphony – that is, the presence of different points of view on the child and the adult – and thirst for happiness. Special attention is paid to the polyphony of voices describing the heroinenarrator. The paper also focuses on the role of the motifs of orphanhood, rejection and loneliness, on the one hand, and of search for happiness, on the other, in developing the image of childhood. The authors argue that the heroine-narrator not only overcomes ordeals but also accomplishes a multi-stage way of growing up – from vague impressions and sensations to a clear awareness, the development of principles and understanding of the structure of the world; from complete alienation from the world to the ability to empathize and open her heart to another; from creative inclinations and instinctiveness to enterprise, spiritual development, upholding her 'naturalness' and her own way. The paper researches Brontë's technique of accuracy in details as applied to depict the development of the heroine-narrator's spiritual world and her outer image and type of behavior. At the same time, it focuses on two versions (synchronic and in retrospect) of depicting Jane's vision of her own behavior and character. There are also analyzed the ways of comparing and contrasting different child images in the novel: the one based on certain religious-didactic signals (Jane vs. Mrs. Reed's children) and the one based on the religious system of values (Jane and Helen). The paper particularly emphasizes the role of natural tenacity (and naturalness in general) and the Protestant at its core model of responsible and natural behavior based on the feeling of love in leading the heroine-narrator to matrimonial happiness.