Пасхальные рассказы А. И. Куприна
Easter Short Stories by A. I. Kuprin

Summary/Abstract: Easter motifs permeate all of Kuprin’s work and reflect the trends characteristic of the development of the Easter genre in Russian literature as a whole. Early short stories point to the crisis of the genre: “Bonze” contradicts the Easter canon; irony appears in the stories “By order”, “My passport”, “Family style”, “Grass.” They contain mandatory elements of the genre: are timed to Easter, possess a special festive mood, tenderness and emotion, and display a spiritual renewal of the characters. In some of the short stories written in 1911–1916 (“Easter Eggs”, “Holy Lies”, “Daddy”) a comic component appears: satire intensifies, and irony turns into sarcasm. Traditional Easter plots seem banal, and therefore fake and feigned, resembling a parody of the genre. In exile, the writer again turns to the Easter genre: he writes “Moscow Easter” and “Easter Bells.” The author himself craves the enlightenment and transformation that Easter brings, creativity becomes salvation, bringing light and joy to the writer who is longing far from his homeland. Memories of childhood or youth become the basis of most Easter short story plots. After all, a naive and sincere belief in miracles persists in children for a long time, they very keenly experience the joy that this holiday brings with it, while adults eventually lose this childish faith in miracles, and their life-drained, hardened souls become cold and still. Memories can be different, they are not always joyful or happy, but it is the experience of these memories, the immersion in the past that creates a special festive mood and promotes spiritual purification and transformation.

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