Article

Name: Plot-Forming Motives in the Books of K. Sergienko

Authors: Oleg N. Vladimirov

Novokuznetsk Branch Institute of Kemerovo State University, Novokuznetsk, Russian Federation

In the section The Plot in Literature and Folklore

Abstract:

The stories of K. Sergienko’s books make up the wanderings of heroes, as a rule, storytellers and participants in the events of personal and national history. In stories for teenagers, the ad-ventures of the heroes have the character of their initiation: “Kees Admiral Tulipovˮ (“Кеес Адмирал Тюльпановˮ), “Take us away, Pegasus!ˮ (“Увези нас, Пегас!ˮ), “Notebook bound in moroccoˮ (“Тетрадь в сафьяновом перплётеˮ). Or they correspond to the genetically related story about the prodigal son (“House on the Hillˮ – “Дом на гореˮ). In both cases, the characters' freedom of movement is largely motivated by their orphanhood. Most often, the main characters, young and old, travel incognito. This motive is introduced in the first sto-ry and becomes one of the plot-forming ones. An obligatory component of almost all books is the mystery of the female character. There are several secrets in “Borodino Awakeningˮ (“Бородинское пробуждениеˮ): for the main character – the secret of Berestov; he himself, who became Berestov in the events on the eve and during Borodin and does not call himself in the present tense; Natasha's secret; hoax Leppich. The unnamed hero of “The White Rondelˮ (“Белый рондельˮ) wanders incognito. In the same row, and the secret of the origin of Nastya, and remained a secret for her (“Notebook...ˮ). “Mysteriousˮ heroines in “House on the Hillˮ. The prehistory of the appearance of the Proud in the ravine (“Good-bye, ravineˮ) remains unknown to the reader. In some stories, the secret of the place is associated with the secret of the hero.

Heroes travel with companions – Kees and Red Fox, Pochivalov and Osorgin, Berestov and Listov, Mike and Morris, Mr. Writer and Mr. Kitten, etc.

The complex of obligatory motives in the historical prose of Sergienko, indicated in “Kees...ˮ, includes the motive of the hero's responsibility for the fate of the country (“Borodino Awakeningˮ, “Xeniaˮ (“Ксенияˮ), etc). This motive is associated with the motive of the he-roes’ dreams of the promised land, the ideal city and the motive of sacrifice.

The tulip in the first story, not yet known to the Dutch, will turn into a flower with its miracu-lous properties in a number of works. The flower-bouquet motif is especially significant in the “House on the Hillˮ. In the same story, another motive of Sergienko’s prose comes to the fore – the star motive. Some of the peripheral motives become leading in individual books (the motives of the crimson beret, Holland, Mozart and Salieri, etc.).

Homelessness, the instability of the heroes existence gives them the opportunity for self-realization, the chronicle of events – grows into a biography, and then into autobiography. Most of Sergienko’s works are based on the plots of a roguish, chivalrous novel and a novel of education, complicated by other plots. The story “Porcelain Headˮ (“Фарфоровая го- ловаˮ) testifies to the writer’s search for new ways in plot construction, caused by the rethinking of the romantic position of fighting against chaotic reality and rising above it.

Keywords: K. Sergienko, plot, motive, narrative forms, author and hero

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