The subject of consideration in the article was the peculiarity of psychologism in E.N. Chirikov’s novel “The Return”. He is included in the autobiographical tetralogy “The Life of Tarkhanov” (1911–1924), which demonstrates that in the early 1910s the writer moved away from the previously established reputation of a life writer and a denouncer of social ulcers, turning to a philosophical understanding of the world and man. However, the author’s contemporaries were not ready for the creative evolution of the artist, which is proved by the history of the critical reception of this novel cycle. “The Return” turned out to be virtually ignored by the reviewers, although it was in it that the skill of Chirikov, a psychologist, was most clearly manifested. The analysis demonstrates that the writer tried to move away from the traditional ways of describing the feelings and experiences of the character in favor of depicting his inner world as a living, dynamic formation. The fluidity of Gennady Tarkhanov’s consciousness and his existential nature were expressed primarily in the weakening of the external plot and the repetition of the same sensations in similar situations caused by the love experiences of the hero. This fact testifies to the accumulation of emotions in Tarkhanov’s soul, which ultimately leads him to adulthood and self-perfection. Thus, the writer intuitively moved in line with the trend that will later occupy a significant place in the literature of the first half of the twentieth century under the name of “non-classical” psychologism and even antipsychologism.
The article examines the works of two writers of the same era — Oscar Wilde and Mire (Alexandra Mikhailovna Moiseeva, 1874–1913). It focuses mainly on Mire’s two reviews written on the occasion of the posthumous publication of Wilde’s works, which directly indicate the connections between the two writers. In the views, Mire provides her own viewpoint on Wilde’s crime, guilt and punishment that are associated with the trial during the last years of his life, and reads “De Profundis” in this context. Attention is also paid to Mire’s story “The Black Panther”, the plot of which refers to the vicissitudes in the last years of Wilde’s life. The story could be considered a free interpretation and neomythological transformation of biographical facts. Thematic similarities in other works of Wilde and Mire are revealed by the analysis of two nomadic recurring images — panther and peacock. Parallels are found in Mire’s short stories “The Spring Night”,“The Hermit” and Wilde’s fairy tale “The Fisherman and His Soul” and his poem in prose “The Teacher of Wisdom”.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.