IMAGES OF MOSCOW AND ST. PETERSBURG IN ESSAYS BY A.I. HERZEN, V.G. BELINSKY AND A. GRIGORIEV

Abstract

The article studies the embodiment of images of Moscow and St. Petersburg in the essay literature of the 40s of the XIX century. The tradition of depicting the two capitals was already established at the beginning of the XIX century in the works of A.S. Pushkin, M.Yu. Gogol. In the 40s, Russian prose, continuing these traditions, but in a new way turns to the image of two important cities of Russia. The author of this article focuses on little-known essays by Russian writers. The article analyzes both the external and internal appearance of the capitals. It turns out that Moscow is not only a city and sights, but also residents, their habits, their rituals, their mentality. The article studies Petersburg and Petersburgers, created by the imaginations of three different prose writers. As a result of the study, the author comes to the conclusion that for the first time in the image of the two capitals, these writers have a motive of rivalry. Moscow appears as a group of patriarchal customs, and St. Petersburg as a European city. The researcher finds an individual value approach to the topic in each of the studied essay writers.