ЭВОЛЮЦИЯ СЮЖЕТА О ДОН ЖУАНЕ В РУССКОЙ ЛИТЕРАТУРЕ (ОТ НАРОДНОГО ПРЕДАНИЯ К МИФУ НОВОГО ВРЕМЕНИ)
EVOLUTION OF THE TOPOS OF DON JUAN IN THE RUSSIAN LITERATURE: FROM FOLK LEGEND TO MODERN MYTH

Summary/Abstract: The present article brings an analysis of six literary works based on the Don Juan topos which were created by Russian writers over a span of 150 years. The task has been to study the evolution of two key motives constitutive for the topos, taking as the starting point the folkloric fabric of the legend of a womanizer and the revenge from behind the grave. The aim of the analysis is to identify in all of the works under discussion various ways in which the motives were reworked and to indicate the sources on which the authors drew in a more or less conscious manner. The findings corroborate the claim that the folkloric material constitutes an important stage in the evolution of the Don Juan topos, a phase which should not be overlooked in research. It should, however, be remembered that in the Russian literature the first significant version of the story only appeared in 1830, by which time Europe could boast a rich tradition in that respect and the legend originating from the Spanish folklore had grown into a modern myth. The selected surveyed texts prove that Russian writers did not much rely on the folk sources; they drew more often on the literary tradition, influential philosophical or psychological concepts as well as on topical moral and ethical issues.

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