Interpretation of the Archetypal Plot about the Sea Maiden and the Fisherman in the Fairy Tale by M. A. Osorgin «Queen-Pearl»

   The article is devoted to the study of the features of M. A. Osorgin’s rethinking of the archetypal story about the sea maiden and the fisherman.

   The relevance of the study is determined by the need to realize the transformation of the traditional plot and implement its characteristic features in the literary fairy tale of one of the outstanding representatives of the literature of the first wave of Russian emigration, to attract the attention of researchers to the pages of the writer's literary work that have unfairly gone into oblivion, to comprehend the national traditions of children's reading and create a more complete history of Russian fiction.

   The study is based on an integrated approach, including the use of comparative-historical, historical-literary, descriptive-analytical methods. The artistic images of M. A. Osorgin's fairy tale are analyzed; their individual author's content is determined, reflecting the synthesis of fairy-tale and realistic plans of narration. It is shown that, in accordance with the understanding of the literary archetype as an «eternal image» with its typological stability and a high degree of generalization, as a universal principle of thinking, regardless of national and cultural affiliation, the writer solves moral and ethical problems by means of fiction and affirms universal moral values. It is proved that the images of the Queen of the Pearl and the fisherman actualize the axiological aspect of the interpretation of the considered literary fairy tale and allow us to understand the hierarchy of the writer's values. It has been established that, despite the apparent coincidence of the images of the main characters, storylines, motifs, chronotope with mythological, folklore, literary canons, M. A. Osorgin developed the plot and created artistic images that have unique individual qualities and characteristics.

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