Мотив пробуждения-рождения художника или «первичное событие» в русской автобиографической прозе
The Initial Event (Impression) in Russian Autobiography Based Fiction

Author(s): Aleksandra Arturovna Kudryashova
Subject(s): Fiction, Russian Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: Russian autobiographical prose; initial event; initial impression; motive; individual style; pathos;
Summary/Abstract: The article deals with a key structural component of autobiography based fiction. Images and impressions of childhood are considered both as the initial point of artists' (writers') creativity and their individual creative styles. A special category is needed to describe this phenomenon: the initial event ('pervichnoe sobytie' - Rus.). The category was offered by Dr. Irina Mineralova in early 2010s to state the initial episode in the plot of Russian autobiography based fiction dedicated to childhood. In our paper, we have broadened the mentioned category by understanding the initial event as initial impression which determines the interrelation of artists and the world they are living in and interpreting in their creative writing. Thus, the initial event ('pervichnoe sobytie') is referred to as a corner stone of an artist co-existence (so-bytie - Rus.) with other elements of their environment and even the Universe. The beginning of individual life corresponds to the Genesis through the unique artist's viewpoint. As the genre presupposes, autobiographical novels combine the documentary and fictional, facts of history and real lives with images of creative work. An author is taken as a creative phenomenon whose personality is reflected in the style and manner of their writing. The study is based on a wide range of pieces of classical Russian literature (XIX-XX centuries), from Alexander Herzen and Leo Tolstoy to Ivan Bunin and Ivan Shmelvyov.

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