Sources and prototype of the main character of N. S. Leskov’s story At the Edge of the World
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33910/2687-1262-2022-4-2-116-124Keywords:
N. S. Leskov, At the Edge of the World, P. V. Znamensky, historical fact, literary source, prototypeAbstract
The reported study is based on the evidence taken from N. S. Leskov’s letters to P. V. Znamensky, the historian of the Russian church. The article is the first attempt to establish the connection between Leskov’s story At the Edge of the World (1875) and Znamensky’s writings about the history of the Russian church, in particular, A Guide to Russian Church History (1870) and Readings from the History of the Russian Church During the Reign of Catherine the Great (1875). Znamensky’s writings were found to serve Leskov as one of the sources of factual information and quotations for his story. The analysis established previously unknown sources of factual information that Leskov included in his story. The narrator of the story shows assessments of events and historical figures that are very close to those given by Znamensky. The image of the bishop created by Leskov bears a certain resemblance to the figures of the Russian church that were described by Znamensky and mentioned in Leskov’s story. The article is the first to provide grounds for considering Archbishop Feofilakt Lopatinsky of Tver as one of the prototypes for the main character of Leskov’s story. Among the similarities between the main character of the story and the image of Theophylact Lopatinsky in the works of P. V. Znamensky and N. A. Pokrovsky are honesty, pastoral zeal, avoidance of senseless protest, dislike of luxury, a sympathetic attitude to Stone of Faith, a negative assessment of church administration. Some similarities are related to the style of presentation, e.g., the tools of polemics that say faith alone is nothing without good deeds. It is reduced to absurdity by Theophylact Lopatinsky and shown as an artistic exaggeration in Leskov’s story.
References
ИСТОЧНИКИ
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SOURCES
Kunitsyn, B. M. (2006) Kazanskij adresat N. S. Leskova [Kazan addressee of N. S. Leskov]. Russkaya literatura, no. 3, pp. 168–184. (In Russian)
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