HOME Topos and Associated Motifs in A. P. Chekhov’s Prose of 1890s: Humility, Escape, Departure

Purpose. The article examines the topos of HOME and following motifs A. P. Chekhov’s late prose. Results. The 1st story, A Woman’s Kingdom , portrays a rich young woman who is bored with her eventless everyday life. Being clever and open-hearted, Anna Akimovna searches for human values, such as empathetic communication, loving family, etc. The fictive time is Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so genre tradition of Christmas narratives involves miracles connected with status changes (marriage, family reunification, poor relative gets award or gift from their rich uncle, an orphan finds their parents, and so on). Ritual temporality suggests some fate changes, and it makes Anna Akimovna dream about her matrimony matters with the worker Pimenov. At last she realizes that Pimenov is below her socially, and social instinct leads her closer to vapid and stupid such as Lysevich or important administrative official Krylin. Dull days she spends at home compel her to leave her dreams for humility. Thus, home-associated motifs in the story are boredom, weariness, and humility. The second narrative, At Home, is based on a return plot. Vera Kardina, who has received her education courses in Moscow, suffers from primitive customs of her home estate. Eventually, she realizes that she is becoming as rude and narrow-minded as the others inhabitants. Therefore, she decides to escape into an unhappy marriage. Corresponding motifs are the same: boredom and weariness, but the main character’s escape reveals the higher degree of disagreement with her current lifestyle. In the third short story, A Doctor’s Visit, the female character’s disease is explained by her inner anxiety related to her social role. Liza Lyalikova is the heir of a huge factory, but she worries that it makes her unhappy and lonely. Doctor Korolev is sure that the best way for Liza’s recovery is to quit the business. When the characters meet next morning, doctor believes that Liza would leave home. Both characters compare the factory with the devil, the absolute evil force, that forms the main motif of the short story. Here, the HOME topos is reconstructed in symbolic way. Conclusion. We conclude that the topos of home in Chekhov’s late works produces destructive emotions. Main characters of narratives don’t feel safe and calm in their homes. Motif dynamics show the development of characters’ positions from humility to deliverance.

topos, symbolic meanings, motif, home - antihome

1. Берковский Н. Я. Чехов: от рассказов и повестей к драматургии // Берковский Н. Я. Литера-тура и театр: Статьи разных лет. М.: Искусство, 1969. С. 48-182.

2. Глазкова М. В. «Усадебный текст» в русской литературе второй половины XIX века: И. А. Гончаров, И. С. Тургенев, А. А. Фет: Автореф. дис. … канд. филол. наук. М., 2008. 17 с.

3. Козакова А. А. Концепт «скука»; Концепт «тоска» // Концептосфера А. П. Чехова: Сб. ст. Ростов н/Д: Изд-во ЮФУ, 2009. С. 186-209.

4. Кондратьева В. В. Рождество в рассказе А. П. Чехова «Бабье царство»: структура, семантика // Творчество А. П. Чехова: текст, контекст, интертекст: Сб. материалов Междунар. науч. конф. Ростов н/Д: Логос, 2010. С. 156-161.

5. Прокофьева В. Ю. Категория «пространство» в художественном преломлении: локусы и топосы // Вестник ОГУ. 2005. № 11. С. 87-94.

6. Пырков И. В. Ритм, пространство и время в русской усадебной литературе XIX века (И. А. Гончаров, И. С. Тургенев, А. П. Чехов): Дис. … д-ра филол. наук. Саратов, 2018. 512 с.

7. Пыхтина Ю. Г. Функционально-семантическая типология пространственных образов и моделей в русской литературе XIX - начала XXI в.: Автореф. дис. … д-ра филол. наук. М., 2014. 30 с.

8. Разумова Н. Е. Творчество А. П. Чехова в аспекте пространства. Томск: Изд-во ТГУ, 2001. 522 с.

9. Савинков С. В., Фаустов А. А. Аспекты русской литературной характерологии. М.: Изд-во Кулагиной - Intrada, 2010. 332 с.

10. Свендсен Л. Философия скуки. М.: Прогресс - Традиция, 2003. 256 с.

11. Синякова Л. Н. Трансформация усадебного текста в прозе А. П. Чехова 1887-1890-х годов // Изв. СмолГУ. 2019. № 3. С. 6-17.

12. Тамарченко Н. Д. Теоретическая поэтика: Хрестоматия-практикум. М.: Академия, 2004. 400 с.

13. Чехов А. П. Полн. собр. соч. и писем: В 30 т. Соч.: В 18 т. М.: Наука, 1986. Т. 8. 527 с.; 1985. Т. 9. 524 с.; 1986. Т. 10. 495 с.

14. Щукин В. Г. Российский гений просвещения: исследования в области мифопоэтики и истории идей. М.: РОССПЭН, 2007. 608 с.

15. Эйхенбаум Б. М. О Чехове // Эйхенбаум Б. М. О прозе. О поэзии. Л.: Худож. лит., 1986. С. 224-236.