The supertext in the works of one of the most popular and mysterious Japanese writers of the early 20th century — Ryunosuke Akutagawa examined in the article. The relevance of this study is due to the fact that the problem of considering supertexts is one of the promising interdisciplinary areas of modern humanitarian knowledge. It is pointed out that in literary criticism there are quite a few works on topos texts, but very few works devoted to the nominal supertext, which is Tolstoy’s text. It is emphasized that Tolstoy’s text began to be created especially actively at the beginning of the twentieth century, and Tolstoy’s personality itself aroused interest not only in his homeland, but throughout the world. It is noted that the author’s extensive correspondence with public figures in Japan is known. It is argued that the fiction and journalistic texts of the Russian classic influenced the development of the national literature of Japan. Particular attention is paid to the issue of including in the text the personal myth of Leo Tolstoy as the basis of the Tolstoy’s text in the works of Akutagawa. It is shown that the Japanese writer refers to the story of the Yasnaya Polyana wise old man, using the episode of reconciliation between Turgenev and Tolstoy as the plot of the story “Woodcock”. In conclusion, the authors note that in their later works (“Cogwheels”, “The Life of an Idiot”) Akutagawa questions the sincerity of L. Tolstoy’s faith in God, interpreting the mythologeme “Leo Tolstoy and Religion” in an original way.
This research is dedicated to the study of supertext in the works of the prominent writer of the white émigré – Ivan Sergeevich Shmelyov. The topic of supertexts is currently one of the most promising interdisciplinary trends in humanities. Despite the fact that literary studies feature quite a number of works dedicated to topological texts, there are virtually no research of supertext, to which Tolstoy's text is attributed to. Active creation of Tolstoy’s text falls on the turn of the XIX – XX centuries. The image of Tolstoy manifests in Shemlyov’s works of the early period, his last novel, diaries and correspondence. In literary texts, the writer creates the “protected” myth about L. Tolstoy, whole the “profane vector” can be observed in diaries and correspondence with the close circle of friends. Mythologemes that comprise Shmelyov’s myth are as follows: “Tolstoy is an outstanding Russian writer”, “Simplification of Tolstoy”, “Tolstoy is the Founder of the New Religion”. The latter is of particular significance, since Shmelyov positions himself, and is subsequently recognized by the readers, as the Orthodox writer irreconcilable with other religious pursuits. Having acknowledge the undisputable authority of L. Tolstoy as a writer, as a model for young authors, the heroes in Shmelyov’s works do not admit the spiritual leader and religious figure in the prominent Russian thinker.
In the article on the material of M. Gorky’s essay “Leo Tolstoy” elements of Tolstoy’s text as a named supertext of literature are considered. It is stated that the basis of this text is a myth about Leo Tolstoy, which has been actively developing for a century and a half, but takes on a particular relevance in the early 20th century during the popularization of the spiritual heritage of the writer and the understanding of his tragic departure from Yasnaya Polyana. The Tolstoy text in the works of M. Gorky is extensive, with mythologized constant representations appearing in almost all of the writer’s fiction texts. The intermediate result of the writer’s mythologizing of Leo Tolstoy’s personality was an essay about him with the same name. This research shows how exactly in this publicist text Gorky creates his own unique myth of Leo Tolstoy, which reflects both the particular attitude of his younger contemporary to the great Russian writer, and his own beliefs about the contradictions and ambiguities of the real genius. Attention is focused on the uniqueness of Tolstoy’s text in the work of “the first proletarian writer”. The Tolstoy myth, as any other myth, can have a sacred or profane nature, in the essay M. Gorky combines both directions.
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