The Borderline Chronotope in Nikolai Gogol’s “Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka” and Pu Songling’s “Strange Tales from Chinese Studio”
https://doi.org/10.18384/2949-5008-2024-2-20-28
Abstract
Aim. The aim of the work is to identify the semantic commonality of the borderline chronotope in the early prose of Gogol and the collection of short stories by Pu Songling.
Methodology. The work undertakes a consistent and comprehensive analysis of border chronotopes in the prose of Gogol and Pu Songling to identify common motifs and their subsequent comparative study and interpretation. The main research methods were analysis and subsequent synthesis and the comparative method in literary criticism.
Results. Analyzing various borderline chronotopes characteristic of Gogol’s and Pu Songling’s fantasy works (time: evening, night, holiday; locus: house, study, window, road, dream, etc.), we can come to the conclusion that the intermediate point of spatial-temporal existence can be interpreted as a special sphere where the hero comes into contact with alien characters at a tense moment in his life and remains alive and whole or perishes – depending on the moral decisions he has made.
Research Implications. The significance of the work lies in the fact that its results make it possible to clarify the originality of the presence of fantastic images of the other world in the works of Gogol and Pu Songling; the results of the study can be used both when studying Gogol’s work in a Chinese audience, and for developing an educational course on comparative study of Russian and Chinese literature.
About the Author
Wenjun Sun
Lomonosov Moscow State University; Shenzhen MSU-BIT University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Sun Wenjun – Postgraduate Student
Leninskie Gory 1, Moscow 119991
Guojidaxueyuan 1, Shenzhen, 518172, People’s Republic of China
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