MAJORAT» OF СULTURE: «ON THE OTHER SIDE OF TULA» BY A. NIKOLEV. ARTICLE 1
Galina VasilyevaThe paper considers a novel of antiquity-scientist A.N. Egunov who was writing under pseudonym Nicolev. Studying antiquity wasn’t considered to be antique. It led to the culture of the XX century and one’s own experience. In the 1920s it was insistently advised «to learn from classics». But the writer’s roles and social profile as well as his relations with his own gift were changing. A. Nikolev’s subtle and clever structures are involuntary perceived as «intensifying» editing. The novel is set in the specific topography. All the toponyms are acknowledged historically except for «the magical village Mirandino». «Ancient Tulsky district» represents the living tract, a museum «without walls». The names of Goethe and Tolstoy remind of definitive features which formed the world of culture. A slight touch on the meaning, writing-wandering, reading will become a storyline of the text. Physically «light hand» is a prevailing metaphor. The moments of revelation capture the turning points in a wonderful wandering. Essential is the suddenness of a crucial question. It concerns the semantics and function of the word «Faust» (fist). The character’s name is connected with the linguistic theory of nominations, with a long-standing argument about the nature of names. Semantics and grammar are opposed: the weaker sex is opposed to the stronger sex, «humane place» – to the chauvinistic culture. The main rhythm of emotions is repeated: violence, power, «weak» power. Egunov was a musically gifted person. In his translations from the ancient Greek language he kept the atmosphere of rhythmo-melodic inflexional features of the text. The novel is particularly in the need of contextualization. The context is constantly changing, and reminds of the Heraclitus river.