Article

Name: The antique text as the basis for the artistic typology in the novels “Oblomov” by I. A. Goncharov and “Walden” by H. D. Thoreau

Authors: Vladimir A. Kondratev, Ivan O. Volkov

Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russian Federation

In the section Study of literature

Abstract:

This article analyzes the “ancient text” as a foundational element in the artistic typology of Ivan Goncharov’s “Oblomov” and Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden.” In this context, the ancient text is understood not only as a corpus of classical literature but also as the various art forms of the “Golden Age” that were fundamentally important to both authors. Homer serves as a focal point in both novels, recognized as the definitive epic author and the creator of “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey.” An analysis of these classical elements reveals the authors’ shared relationship with the humanist ideal and the “Golden Age.” This includes the relationship between man and the world, the inherent equality of the everyday and the existential, and the “epicization” of the narrative, centered on the hero-narrator in Thoreau’s work and the hero in Goncharov’s. By contrasting historical antiquity with present-day reality and uncovering the ancient ideal in life, Goncharov resolves the moral quandaries surrounding the protagonists’ life choices, effectively reconciling various interpretations of everyday living as an integral component of existence. Conversely, Thoreau employs antiquity as a reference point for cultural and artistic cultivation. In “Walden,” the protagonist draws upon ancient authors for both practical, economic insights and their distinct, contemplative worldviews.

Keywords: Antique text, artistic typology, I. A. Goncharov, H. Thoreau, Homer, “Oblomov”, “Walden”

Bibliography:

Akhmedova U. S. Romanticheskiy ellinizm G. Toro [Romantic Hellenism of G. Thoreau]. Voprosy filologicheskikh nauk. 2008, no. 6, pp. 23–42.

Khomuk N. V. Khudozhestvennaya antologiya amerikanskoy literatury 19 veka [Literary anthology of American literature of the 19th century]. Tomsk, Tomsk University, 2018, 566 p.

Kustova O. B. Priroda v zerkale sravneniy i sopostavleniy v knige ocherkov I. A. Goncharova “Fregat ‘Pallada’” [Images of nature in the mirror of similes and comparisons expressed in the voyage diary of Ivan Goncharov “Frigate ‘Pallada’”]. Vestnik of Kostroma State University. 2016, no. 5, pp. 130–135.

Losev A. F. Antichnaya filosofiya i obshchestvenno-istoricheskie formatsii [Ancient philosophy and socio-historical formations]. In Antichnost’ kak tip kul’tury [Antiquity as a type of culture]. Moscow, Nauka, 1988, pp. 6–77.

Lyapushkina E. I. Russkaya idilliya 19 veka i roman Goncharova “Oblomov” [The Russian idyll of the 19th century and I. A. Goncharov’s novel “Oblomov”]. St. Petersburg, SPbSU, 1996, 147 p.

Mel’nik V. I. I. A. Goncharov v kontekste mirovoy literatury [I. A. Goncharov in the context of world literature]. Moscow, GASK, 2012, 335 p.

Osipova E. F. Genri Devid Toro [Henry David Thoreau]. In Istoriya literatury SShA [History of US literature]. Moscow, Nasledie, 1999, vol. 2, pp. 247–304.

Otradin M. V. Proza I. A. Goncharova v literaturnom kontekste [Prose of I. A. Goncharov in the literary context]. St. Petersburg, SPbSU, 1994, 169 p.

Pavlovich K. K. “Fregat ‘Pallada’” I. A. Goncharova i morskie romany D. F. Kupera (“Lotsman,” “Krasnyy korsar”) [“The Frigate ‘Pallada’” by I. A. Goncharov and the sea novels of D. F. Cooper (“The Pilot,” “The Red Corsair’)]. In Kul’turnye kody russkoy literatury [Cultural codes of Russian literature]. Ufa, BashSU, 2017, pp. 246–256.

Pavlovich K. K. Antichnaya traditsiya i iskusstvo plastiki v peyzazhakh “Fregata ‘Pallada’” I. A. Goncharova [The ancient tradition and the art of plastics in the depiction of landscapes in [“The Frigate ‘Pallada’” by I. A. Goncharov]. Tomsk State University Journal. 2018, no. 433, pp. 31‒37.

Solomatina S. Yu. Antichnost’, priroda i chelovek v tvorchestve G. D. Toro [Antiquity, nature and man in the works of H. D. Thoreau]. In Experimenta lucifera. N. Novgorod, 2005, pp. 122–123.

Tarkovskaya N. A. Dialog antichnykh i khristianskikh motivov v romane I. A. Goncharova “Obryv” [Dialogue of ancient and Christian motifs in I. A. Goncharov’s novel “Obryv”]. Cand. philol. sci. diss. Kostroma, 2006, 181 p.

Tirgen P. Oblomovka kak Anti-Itaka: arkhetip Odisseya v tvorchestve I. A. Goncharova [Oblomovka as Anti-Ithaca: the Odysseus archetype in the works of I. A. Goncharov]. Imagology and Comparative Studies. 2018, no. 10, pp. 27–73.

Zhilyakova E. M. “V lesu” Genri Toro i “Step’” A. P. Chekhova (Versiya, ili opyt tipologicheskogo analiza) [“In the Woods” by Henry Thoreau and “The Steppe” by A. P. Chekhov (Version, or an experiment in typological analysis)]. In Motivy i syuzhety russkoy literatury. Ot Zhukovskogo do Chekhova [Motifs and plots of Russian literature. From Zhukovsky to Chekhov]. Tomsk, Znamya Mira, 1997, pp. 171–182.

Zhilyakova E. M., Pavlovich K. K. Sravneniya v knige putevykh ocherkov “Fregat ‘Pallada’” I. A. Goncharova [Comparisons in the book of travel essays “Frigate ‘Pallada’” by I. A. Goncharov]. Tomsk State University Journal of Philology. 2018, no. 51, pp. 130–144.