CHRISTIAN IMAGES IN THE NOVEL “ASKOLD’S GRAVE” BY M. ZAGOSKIN AS REPRESENTATION OF NATIONAL IDENTITY IN RUSSIAN ROMANTICISM

Abstract

The article discusses the specifics of Christian subjects and imagery in the novel “Askold’s Grave” by M. Zagoskin in the aspect of the urgent problem of ethnic identity. The period of the late 20s – early 30s of the nineteenth century in the literary biography of M.N. Zagoskin is the time of keen interest to history and intense critical activity. The writer is at the origins of the creation of the historical novel genre in the literature of Russian romanticism. Published in 1833, the novel is the writer’s third attempt to appeal to the historical topic. The positions of Western European literature are still strong in “Askold’s Grave” (the writer undoubtedly follows the peculiarities of Walter-Scott type poetics), but at the same time, the national-religious specificity is associated with the theme of Christianization of Kievan Rus at the end of the tenth century and is put forward to the center of the story.