Chronicles by second-rate Russian playwrights of the first third of the 19th century (on the example of M. N. Zagoskin’s works)

Authors:

S. K. Kuchigina

Penza State University, Penza, Russian Federation

Abstract:

The article is devoted to the analysis of the main trends influenced the creation of textual material of comedies of the first third of the XIX century. National playwrights of the first third of the 19th century still adhered to
traditional canons. It was necessary in drama despite the shift away from classic principles, since the plot structure of the play (its intra-stage “life”) should have corresponded to the spirit of the times and the playwright’s artistic vision. The general principles of comedy works creation of the indicated period were greatly influenced by the skill of the second-rate authors (in particular, the article provides an analysis of the genre originality of the plays by M. N. Zagoskin). The research was carried out on the basis of historical, descriptive, comparative, typological methods, content analysis and compositional analysis. The texts of the plays by N. V. Gogol, M. N. Zagoskin, D. I. Fonvizin, I. A. Krylov were used. The attention of
researchers of the past and present was focused on certain issues of the poetics of dramatic works: the problems of the hero, characters analysis, the specifics of the author’s presence in the work, author’s intentions , etc. In this regard, the author of the article uses the key provisions of the works by U. M. Lotman, A. I. Zhuravleva, V. I. Mildon, A. N. Kopylov, T. I. Radomskaya, E. A. Moiseev. The results of the study reveal the influence of the second-rate authors on the formation of national drama in the first third of the 19th century. A love story, as a rule, was an “entourage” helping to present the main action as fully as possible: this can be observed, for example, in the “Comedy vs. Comedy, or Lesson to Red tape” play. Here,
the basis of criticism of the literary trend, and the love theme serves only as a background. This type of comedy can be correlated with comedies of an acute satirical orientation, with pamphlet comedies. Based on the research data, the author comes to the conclusion that the expressiveness of the plot poetics of dramatic works of the designated period was largely achieved due to the traditions laid down by the second-rate authors.

Keywords:

Authors of the second plan, play, comedy, originality, diversity, dramatic works, genesis.

Paper submitted:

May 20, 2020.

For citation:

Kuchigina S. K. (2020). Chronicles by second-rate Russian playwrights of the first third of the 19th century (on the example of M. N. Zagoskin’s works). The Science of Person: Humanitarian Researches, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 15–22. DOI: 10.17238/issn1998-5320.2021.15.1.2.

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