Article

Name: BRICK ON THE HEAD: FROM THE HISTORY OF THE MOTIVE

Authors: D. D. Nikolaev

A. M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation

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Abstract: The article is devoted to the motive of the brick on the head in connection with an accident / determinism. The most famous phrase in Russian literature connected with the motive is Woland’s: ‘No brick <…> will ever fall on anyone’s head just out of the blue’ (Bulgakov). In article the history of the motive (works of I. S. Turgenev, F. M. Dostoevsky, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, M. Twain, H. Ibsen etc.) is analyzed. It is spoken in detail about this motif in works of A. T. Averchenko, whose works Bulgakov well knew.

Keywords: m. e. saltykov-shchedrin, m. twain, averchenko, bulgakov, plot, russian literature, ‘brick on the head’, accident / determinism in literature

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