Article

Name: About the prototypical basis of the novels of D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak “Good Old Times” and “Faithful Slave”

Authors: Vladimir A. Shkerin

Institute of History and Archaeology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation

In the section Study of literature

Abstract:

The paper puts forward the hypotheses on what actual events inspired the plots of the novels of Dmitry N. Mamin-Sibiryak, namely “Dobroe staroe vremya” (“Good Old Time”) (1889) and “Vernyy rab” (“Faithful Slave”) (1891). Both novels appeared as a kind of “by-product” of the work on the historical essay “Gorod Yekaterinburg” (“The City of Yekaterinburg”) (1889). The action in both novels takes place in Zagorie, which strongly evokes Yekaterinburg. The period of action is the 1840s and 1850s when the city was under the authority of the director of the Ural mining and metallurgical plants, General Vladimir A. Glinka. In “Dobroe staroe vremya,” he is “the old general”, while in “Vernyy rab,” he is “General Golubko.” The notes in the writer’s notebook seem to point unambiguously to prototypes of other characters in these works. Researchers tend to trust these notes with complete confidence. The writer claims that the novel “Dobroe staroe vremya” tells the “history of Demidoff.” However, no candidate fitting Mamin-Sibiryak’s description has been found in the family of the famous Ural manufacturers. The title of the novel “Vernyy rab” in the writer’s diary is accompanied by the note “The story of General Glinka’s wife.” Nonetheless, the story of the general’s only wife, Ulyana G. Vishnevskaya, has nothing in common with the plot. Searching for the reasons for such discrepancies can provide a better understanding of the specifics of Mamin-Sibiryak’s work with historical material.

Keywords: history of Russian literature, Dmitry N. Mamin-Sibiryak, the novel “Good Old Times”, the novel “Faithful Slave”, plot, prototype, Narkiz K. Chupin, Vladimir A. Glinka

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