THE POETICS OF THE GOTHIC IN M. LERMONTOV’S NOVEL “VADIM”

Abstract

The main objective of the study is to examine Lermontov’s youthful novel from the point of view of gothic narrative’s poetics. Gothic elements are noticed in the system of images, in the characters’ conflict, in the chronotope, in the plot, in the landscape scatches, and in particular artistical details. M. Lermontov extends and modifies the frameworks of gothic narrative in his own manner. It was the gothic that allowed the young author to present the scene of Pugachev’s revolt in his first prosaic experience, which was rare in the literature of the 1830s. This study helps to clarify the genre differentiation of gothic tradition in the Russian literature of the first third of the 19th century. It also analyzes the structure of M. Lermontov’s novel “Vadim” in the more complete way.