ACADEMIC JOURNAL
|
ISSN 2542-1077 (Print) ISSN 1994-5973 (Online) |
Literary studies |
Tubylevich R. E. | Pitirim Sorokin Syktyvkar State University |
Keywords: historical novel Novgorod Joachim chronicle authenticity Old Russian literature twentieth-century Russian literature |
Summary: The article investigates the specifi c features of inserting the excerpts from the Novgorod Joachim Chronicle
into Mikhail Karateev’s historical novel The Charter of Great Khan (1958). The research relevancy is determined by
the scholarly interest in the artistic actualization of medieval documents in modern literature. The issue of the adequate
transformation of medieval literature images, motifs and episodes is very signifi cant for historical fi ction. The quotations
paraphrased by the character of the novel are borrowed from the most debatable part of the Novgorod Joachim
Chronicle, which contains information not found in other medieval texts. Being aware of the Chronicle’s questionable
reputation among scholars, Karateev poses arguments in favor of its authenticity and explicates these arguments through
the character of his novel tailoring them to the character’s personality and his historical period. Consequently, the author
portrays the character who critically investigates the Chronicle, which is appealing to readers but not typical for a person
living in the described epoch. Mikhail Karateev attributes his own perception of the Novgorod Joachim Chronicle
to the character of his novel in order to refute the Norman theory of the origin of the Russian state. The picture of old Russian history is supplemented with the information derived from the medieval annals and scholarly literature. |
Displays: 497; |