Article

Name: The novel “The Mamai’s Treasure Trove” by A. Klyagin: adventure plot and Eurasian undertone

Authors: Elena V. Kapinos

Institute of Philology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation

In the section Study of literature

Abstract:

The paper reviews the novel “The Mamai’s Treasure Trove” by A. P. Klyagin, published in Paris in 1948 and not republished since then. In Grasse, during the Second World War, A. P. Klyagin became friends with I. A. Bunin, whose creative work inspired him to compose two autobiographical books, with “The Land of Extraordinary Opportunities” being the first and “The Mamai’s Treasure Trove” the second one. Similar to “The Life of Arseniev” by I. A. Bunin, the novel under review is a historiosophical work, with its protagonist being an emigrant who recalls his youth spent in Russia. Klyagin provides his personal interpretation of the history of Russia from antiquity to the present time. The action of the novel unfolds in the Caspian steppe, on Lake Elton, where the construction of the Astrakhan railroad is underway, accounting for a very profound Eurasian undertone of the work. This paper analyzes Klyagin’s historiosophical ideas that relate to Eurasianism, pointing to some works written by the Eurasians (P. N. Savitsky and S. N. Trubetskoy) as the sources of these ideas. However, the novel concerned cannot be regarded as an artistic illustration of the theory of Eurasianism. Of interest is the adventure plot that was designed in folklore style based on folk tales about treasures, most probably not without the influence of Bunin.

Keywords: A. P. Klyagin, Mamai’s Treasure Trove, forgotten book, I. A. Bunin, literature of the Russian emigration, Eurasianism, tale on treasure-hunters, legends on treasure troves, adventure tale, autobiographic narration

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