Information about the author:
Inna V. Vasilieva
Inna V. Vasilieva, PhD in Сultural Studies, Senior Lecturer, Department of Comparative Studies of National Literatures and Cultures, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Regional Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory, 1, GSP-1, 119991 Moscow, Russia.
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Abstract:
A key and conceptually important problem in the work of the majority of Russian writers has been the concept of “home” for many years. This image occupies a significant place in the literary process of the beginning of the 20th century, embodying a complex, multifaceted phenomenon, originating in the oral folk tradition. “Home” as a concept contains two most important aspects: the material (the structure and its content) and the spiritual (moral foundations and traditions). The presented article focuses on the features of perception of the image of the home in the works of A.M. Gorky in the 1910s. It is the artistic phenomenon, preserving the cultural traditions in itself, which determines and shapes the worldview of the writer’s characters, their relationship with the world, moral values and ideals. Undoubtedly, at the heart of the creation of this artistic phenomenon are personal author’s memories of his childhood home. Especially interesting in this regard is the home as a kind of nest, a microcosm, which undergoes major changes in the first decades of the 20th century. That is why topos of the home in the works of the writer is inextricably linked with the theme of the family, the images of children, the feeling of warmth. The world in the works of A.M. Gorky is not limited only to the narrow space of the dwelling, it absorbs entire cities and even countries, as happens, for example, in Tales of Italy, but regardless of size, this is the place that becomes a kind of center of attraction, a moral basis, and sometimes a salvation for the heroes of the writer.
Keywords: image, theme, topos, artistic space, phenomenon.