About repeated motives in the book of A.P. Chekhov “Sakhalin Island”

https://doi.org/10.20339/PhS.3-19.087

Kapustin Nikolay V.,

Doctor of  Philology, Professor,

Professor of the Russian Literature and Cultural Studies Department

Ivanovo State University

e-mail: nkapustin@mail.ru

“Sakhalin Island” occupies a special place among Chekhov’s creative works, which can be explained first of all by its documentary background and genre peculiarities. It is an undeniable fact but, as the present article shows, it would be wrong to separate “Sakhalin Island” from the writer’s fiction works. On the assumption of the integrity of the creative personality, manifesting itself regardless of the genres the writer works in, the author of the article studies repeated motifs in “Sakhalin Island”. As a result, the book comes close to Chekhov’s fiction works notable for the poetics of repetition. Naturally, repetitions are not so conspicuous in the writer’s long texts in comparison with his short pieces; nevertheless, they cannot but draw attention. Varying, overlapping and interpenetrating, the repeated motifs in “Sakhalin Island” (for example, boredom, bondage, rain, sea, escape/departure from the island, etc.) not only play a compositional role but also unite people’s fortunes, thus becoming an important exponent of Chekhov’s concept of life and a characteristic of generic traits of human nature.

Keywords: Chekhov, “Sakhalin Island”, integrity of creative personality, repetitions, repeatedmotifs.

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