“The Hero in the Study ...”: The Personality of the Writer in S. V. Maksimov’s Essay “Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky” (1897)

Aim. We reveal the personality features of A. N. Ostrovsky based on the memoirs of S. V. Maksimov, his contemporary and the ethnographer.
Methodology. The portrait of A. N. Ostrovsky is considered as the subject of the study; both the principles of portraiture themselves and the accents placed by the writer-ethnographer who personally knew Ostrovsky and was close to him in his value orientations and moral sympathies, are revealed. The methodology of the work relies on the use of biographical, cultural-historical, and psychological methods that allow us to present the personality of Ostrovsky and his value orientations.
Results. It is determined that the portrait of Ostrovsky created by S. V. Maksimov is based on the Russian literary and critical tradition, and recreates the appearance of the writer in the unity of the external manifestations of his character and his ideals. It is revealed that the process of portraying the writer in S. V. Maksimov’s essay is associated with the use of contrast techniques, metaphorical comparison, and allusions to the Holy Scriptures. The portrait of A. N. Ostrovsky is created by describing his face and the way he dresses, as well as by attention to the details of the landscape and interior, which is determined not only by the general attitudes when creating a portrait and the fact of personal communication of writers, but also reflects the specific skills of S. V. Maksimov as an ethnographer writer.
Research implications. The theoretical significance of the study is to identify the principles of portraying the writer in the ethnographic direction of the Russian literature. The results of the research can be used in the value study of the writer’s personality in school and university literature courses.

1. Edoshina I. A., Shilkina I. S. [Portrait against the Backdrop of the Era: A. N. Ostrovsky]. In: Vestnik

2. kul’turologii [Bulletin of Culturology], 2020, no. 4, pp. 130–149.

3. Kiseleva I. A., Potashova K. A. [A Hat as a Detail of a Costume and a Means of Characterizing a Character

4. in N. M. Karamzin’s “Letters of a Russian Traveler”]. In: Shatalova O. V., ed. Russkii yazyk v slavyanskoi

5. mezhkul’turnoi kommunikatsii: sbornik trudov konferentsii, Moskva, 27 fevralya 2017 g. [Russian

6. Language in Slavic Intercultural Communication: A Collection of Proceedings of the Conference,

7. Moscow, February 27, 2017]. Moscow, Moscow Region State University Publ., 2017, pp. 137–146.

8. Lebedev Yu. V. [On the Study of Russian Classical Literature]. In: Literatura v shkole [Literature at

9. School], 2019, no. 11, pp. 2–5.

10. Lobanov M. P. Ostrovskii [Ostrovsky]. Moscow, Molodaya gvardiya Publ., 1989. 399 p.

11. Mosaleva G. V. “Neprochitannyi” A. N. Ostrovskii: poet ikonnoi Rossii [“Unread” A. N. Ostrovsky: Poet of Iconic Russia]. Izhevsk, Udmurtia Institute Publ., 2014. 295 p.

12. Pavlov A. V. [Ostrovsky and S. V. Maksimov (On the Problems of Composite and Creative Structures)]. In: Edoshina I. A., ed. Shchelykovskie chteniya –2002. Problemy estetiki i poetiki tvorchestva A. N. Ostrovskogo [Shchelykovskii Readings – 2002. Problems of Aesthetics and Poetics of A. N. Ostrovsky’s Creativity]. Kostroma, Kostroma State University Publ., 2003, pp. 153–159.

13. Skatov N. N. [The Creator of the Folk Theater: Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky]. In: Skatov N. N. Sochineniya. T. 4 [Essays. Vol. 4]. St. Peterburg, Nauka Publ., 2001, pp. 67–95.

14. Fokeev A. L. [S. V. Maksimov about I. F. Gorbunov (The Book “Literary Journeys”)]. In: Mezhdisciplinarnye svyazi pri izuchenii literatury. Vyp. 8 [Interdisciplinary Connections in the Study of Literature. Iss. 8]. Saratov, Saratovskii istochnik Publ., 2019, pp. 184–188.

15. Fokeev A. L. Narodnaya kul’tura v etnograficheskoi proze S. V. Maksimova [Folk Culture in the Ethnographic Prose of S. V. Maksimov]. Moscow, Lenand Publ., 2015. 104 p.

16. Fokina M. A. [Language Means of Creating a Literary Portrait of A. N. Ostrovsky in the Memoirs of S. V. Maksimov]. In: Gromovskie chteniya: sbornik materialov i issledovanii mezhdunarodnoi nauchnoi konferentsii, Kostroma, 07–09 noyabrya 2016 g. [Gromov Readings: Collection of Materials and Research International Scientific Conference, Kostroma, November 07–09, 2016]. Kostroma, Kostroma State University, 2016, pp. 318–323.

17. Kiseleva I. A., ed. Tsennostnye osnovy natsional’noi kartiny mira v russkoi literature [Value Bases of National Pictures of the World in the Russian Literature]. Moscow, Moscow Region State University Publ., 2019. 312 p.

18. Shcherbakova M. I. S. V. Maksimov: ocherk tvorchestva [S. V. Maksimov: Essay on Creativity]. Moscow, Prometei Publ., 1996. 200 p.