The image of a person of another nationality in the fantastic works of Oleg Divov

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the image of a person of a different nationality, who is created in his works by the modern Russian science fiction writer Oleg Divov. Based on the analysis of the author’s three novels, “The Best Solar Crew,” “Technical Support” and “Elephants’ Homeland,” his original attitude to the problem of the national and ethnic affiliation of a person is revealed. The aim of the study was to analyze the image of a person of a different nationality in the books of O.I. Divov and to represent a person of a different nationality in the context of the image of the “Other”. The tasks were set to identify the author’s treatment of the image of a person of a different nationality, to detect interpretations of this image in various works. The scientific novelty of the study was provided both by the novelty of the text material introduced into the scientific circulation, and by the approach to the problem of the image of the “Other” in modern literature from the point of view of the optionality of observing the principles of tolerance and political correctness, more precisely, new ways of observing these principles. In the reviewed works of the writer, heroes of different nationalities appear, and the national differences between them are not hidden, but, on the contrary, stand out in relief, are brought to the fore. Representatives of each of the nationalities (Russians, Jews, Germans, Americans, French, Chukchi, and others) are portrayed as people with undeniable merits, and at the same time – ironically, with humor. The writer does not demonstrate any stable national preferences: in the novel “The Best Solar Crew”, Russians are glorified first of all, and in the novel “The Land of Elephants” – the Chukchi. Despite ridicule, reflecting the stereotypical perception of a particular nation, the description of none of them becomes nationalistic. The author creates an original concept of perception of heroes of a different nationality, opposing the popular in modern culture of tolerance, showing the importance of national differences and the uselessness of silencing them.

Keywords

• image
• other
• nationality
• ethnos
• ethnic
• fantastic literature
• oleg divov