Information about the author:

Abstract:

This article makes use of componential and comparative methods to trace the influence of the Spanish picaresque novel on classical Russian literature. It draws on material from the works of Mateo Aleman, Francisco de Quevedo and Nikolai Gogol. Picaro as a modal personality in the Weberian sense of the word appears in different works of Russian literature, including “The Captain’s Daughter” by A. Pushkin, who largely repeated the structure of the Spanish picaresque novel and its main plot lines in an attempt to create the first historical novel in Russian literature. Gogol made use of Picaro’s mask as a mirror reflecting the vices of contemporary Russia. The heroes of Gogol’s works undergo a school of life that becomes a vivid example of anti-education. The latter engenders an antihero who exists in full agreement with the behavioural patterns of contemporary society. All of this shows that the memory of the Spanish picaresque genre clearly manifested itself in selected works of Russian literature.