Article

Name: Greka Was Riding Across a River: «On the Other Side of Tula» by A. Nikolev. Article 1

Authors: Vasilyeva G. M. (Novosibirsk)

Novosibirsk State University of Economics and Management, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation

In the section The Plot, Motive, Genre

Abstract: It concerns a novel written by a classical scientist. Studying antiquity wasn’t considered to be antique. It led to the culture of the XX century and one’s own experience. In the 1920s it was insistently advised «to learn from classics». But writer’s roles and social profile as well as his relations with his own gift were changing. A. Nikolev’s subtle and clever structures are involuntary perceived as «intensifying» editing. The novel is set in the living tract – «in the Lev Tolstoj’s country». Slight touch on the meaning, writing-wandering, reading will become a storyline of the text. Physically «light hand» is a prevailing metaphor. The moments of revelation capture the turning points in a wonderful wandering. Essential is the suddenness of a crucial question. It con-cerns the semantics and function of the word «Faust» (fist). The character’s name is connected with the linguistic theory of nominations, with a long-standing argument about the nature of names. Semantics and grammar are opposed: the weaker sex is opposed to the stronger sex, «humane place» – to the chauvinistic culture. The main rhythm of emotions is repeated: violence, power, «weak» power.

Keywords: classical philology, august, magical village, light, fist, a swarm of flies, the gender of words, family resemblance.

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