Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University named after V.P. Astafiev, Krasnoyarsk, Russia, nkovtun@mail.ru
The article analyses E. Vodolazkin’s novel Solovyov and Larionov (2009), the problem of correlation between the text and the reality reflected in it. The intrigue of the novel is based on the motif of the “manuscript mystery” one of the key motifs in the world literature, which is accompanied by a number of other motifs, including motifs of search, origin mystery, difficult reading, predictions, villainy. Past and present events are structured by the life path of White Army General Larionov, left alive by the Reds after the seizure of Crimea. The mystery of the cultural hero tries to unravel the trickster who follows his trail – the postgraduate historian Solovyov. The description of the search, the deciphering of the general’s records, his “project” aimed to save the soldiers of his army are highlighted by plots and images from world literature. The General’s destiny is a mirror reflecting different facets of the elusive time; his diary is a testimony of the strength and will of an individual who found himself in a tragic situation and managed to rise above the inevitable.
Vodolazkin; Solovyov and Larionov; “manuscript mystery”; the problem of the Other
Download textFor citing: Kovtun N.V. (2023). “General Larionov as a text” and its interpreters (E. Vodolazkin’s novel Solovyov and Larionov). Human being: Image and essence. Humanitarian aspects. Moscow: INION RAN. Vol. 3(55): “Simpleton” and “scribe” in and around literary fiction, pp. 115-135. DOI: 10.31249/chel/2023.03.06