Article

Name: The plot of «a provincial in the capital» in the works of V. M. Shukshin

Authors: Alexandr I. Kulyapin, Elena A. Khudenko

Altai State Pedagogical University, Barnaul, Russian Federation

In the section Study of literature

Abstract: The paper deals with the cross-cutting plot «a provincial in the capital» implemented in the prose of V. Shukshin. The plot splits into several semiotic components. The first semiotic complex is marked as «the conquest of the capital». It is connected with the implementation of the internally opposite semes: for the heroes of Shukshin, the conquest of the capital at first turns out a victory, and then a personal and social defeat (the novel «I came to give you freedom»). The invariant part is the storyline of «the capital as a prison and hard labour for the soul» (the story «The wife saw her husband off to Paris»). The second semiotic complex is based on the idea: «Moscow is like a carnival space, a theatrical playground», where the characters of Shukshin choose to get acquainted with the capital places in the corresponding directions (zoo, GUM, crematorium). They are examined for the «sins» – first of all for breaking ties with their native land and then-consciously chosen, but often unconsciously being aware of the tragic marginality («And released the horses in a field», «Pechki-Lavochki»). Moscow becomes the cursed place for Shukshin’s heroes, archetypally ascending to the model of a demonic maze, hell, wandering space of the human spirit in search of truth. The third semiotic complex is realised through the psychological state of the hero-provincial, who found himself in the capital. The psychology of the provincial is an extremely incompatible combination of rural snobbery and of the capital as a festive place where the hero is not only willing to taste «the charms of culture» but also to violate the social boundaries as his visit to the capital coincides with the shutdown of the hero from his mundane, everyday life («A first-class driver», «And in the morning they woke up»). A separate semiotic incarnation of the story is the hero’s staying in the capital of Altai region Barnaul. The identity of the negative connotations of the regional capital allows one to compare Barnaul to Moscow-a prison. In this context, this semiotic relationship is embodied by Shukshin not metaphorically but literally, biographically: Barnaul is a prison, and also the place of execution of the writer's father («The sun rings»). Ultimately, the plot of «the provincial capital» in the stories and novels (film novels) by Shukshin is implemented in many ways: the story is filled with historical, mythological, topographical, autobiographical details and is one of the backbones for the entire artistic creation of the writer.

Keywords: the story, the provincial capital, space, Shukshin, prose

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