SIBERIA, ERMAK AND OTHERS: ON THE QUESTION OF HISTORICAL TRANSFORMATIONS OF LITERARY GENRES, IMAGES, AND MOTIVES

Abstract

The article considers transformations of the genre of historical narrative in literary works, that are representative of various aesthetic systems - folklore (Kirsha Danilov’s Collection), classical aesthetics (Vol. 9 of N. Karamzin’s «History of the Russian State»), and postclassical aesthetics (A. Ivanov’s novel «Tobol. Many are called») - in relation to the image and the actions of Ermak, the conqueror of Siberia, and his crew. By investigating the key motivation to recover the honor, the common features and differences in approaches to treating historical material were revealed, and the logic of development of the historical narrative genre as the movement from a story about an event to continuation of the event in a new context, new circumstances, and in destinies of people of a different era, was established.