Mystical Metaprose of the 20th Century: genesis and metamorphosis (Herman Hesse — Vladimir Nabokov — Mikhail Bulgakov)

UDC 82.09-3:808.1 DOI 10.20339/978-5-905998-07-2-2021-1-224Zl   Zlotchevskaya A. V. Mystical Metaprose of the 20th Century: genesis and metamorphosis (Herman Hesse — Vladimir Nabokov — Mikhail Bulgakov): academic publication. — Moscow, ALMAVEST, 2021, 224 p. (Library of the journal “Philological Sciences”). Issue 1   ISBN 978-5-905998-07-2    The book by Doctor Philology Zlochevskaya A. V. deals with the phenomenon of “mystical metaprose” of the 20th century. The study is built on the laws of logic: description of phenomenon and its genesis, aesthetic strategy of the three writers, genre model, poetics. The author points out the creative similarity of three writers in their approach to aesthetic and metaphysical problems, their tragic-comic view of the world. The book is addressed to a broad spectrum of intellectuals, primarily scholars and university students of philology, as well as all those interested in the works of Hesse, Nabokov and Bulgakov.

Contents

From the author 9

Introduction 11

Chapter 1. Aesthetics of mystical metaprose

Antirealistic conception of writing 30

“Real life” — imagination — creation 32

“Real life” — imagination — memory 34

Writing as a language game in Nabokov 36

Conception of the art as a game in Hesse, Nabokov, Bulgakov 41

Humor and Satire 44

Aesthetic concepts of Hesse, Nabokov, Bulgakov 46

Chapter 2. Mystical Metanovel Genre

Writing as world creation 48

Three-dimensional model of the world 50

Typology of the main character’s image in a mystical metanovel 52

Artistic metareality of the novels 59

“Steppenwolf ” 59

“The Gift” 65

“Master and Margarita” 94

Artistic and historical truth in mystical metaprose 99

Concept of “historical personality” 99

“Artistic dreams” about Goethe and Mozart 103

Myth and Reality. “Pontius Pilate” 107

“Life of Chernyshevsky” 115

Typology of Nabokov’s and Bulgakov’s “inner texts” 125

Concept of a person in Hesse, Nabokov, Bulgakov 127

Chapter 3. Game Poetics of Mystical Metaprose

“Looking-glass” imagery 134

Looking glasses and through looking glasses in the novels of Hesse,

Nabokov, Bulgakov 136

Paradoxes of literary chronotope 147

Intertextuality and reminiscences 158

Reminiscent-allusionary orientation to the past 166

“Steppenwolf ” 166

“The Gift” 169

“Master and Margarita” 170

Image of the Author: riddles, brain-teasers, rebusers 182

“Steppenwolf ” 182

“Master and Margarita” 184

“The Gift” 190

Conclusion 206

Bibliography 209

Subject Index 223