Religious Perception of Time in B. Pasternak’s novel “Doctor Zhivago”

Abstract

The features of the organization of artistic time in B. L. Pasternak’s novel “Doctor Zhivago” are considered. It is noted that the time in the novel is presented in the form of three models that are correlated and mutually intersect: historical time, time as grammatical category and sacred, “biblical” time. Special attention is paid to the “biblical” time associated with religion. It is proved that the plot-compositional structure and images of Pasternak’s novel - in its prosaic and especially poetic parts - correlate with Evangelical events and the Orthodox calendar circle, the center of which is the Holy week, where every day reminds of the final events of the earthly ministration and preaching of Jesus Christ. An important element of the study is the identification of the dramatic self-perception of the lyrical “I” in the poetic Chapter of the novel, where it acquires a timeless meaning, is projected on the events of the Evangelical history and, above all, on the mystery of the sacrificial feat of Christ. In the process of analyzing the peculiarities of artistic time in the novel, it becomes obvious why references to historical facts are given in the text, as a rule, without specific dates, but in association with certain periods of the church year. It is concluded that in the novel “Doctor Zhivago” the religious perception of time, typical for the author and a number of characters, presupposes the mutual germination of life and existence, history and eternity.

Keywords

• christianity
• evangelical text
• historical time
• orthodox calendar
• easter cycle
• pasternak
• novel “doctor zhivago”
• system of leitmotives
• novel composition