ANONYMOUS SHORT-STORIES ABOUT PARASHA SIBIRYACHKA

Introduction. А sensational story of Parasha Lupolova, the daughter of an exile, who in 1805 walked on foot from Siberia to St. Petersburg to ask Alexander I for mercy for her convicted father, served as a basis for a number of literary works. A consistent plot (we further refer to it as “parasha’s plot”) based on this true story was formed in the first half of the XIX century. Eventually it became so popular that it was reproduced not only in the author’s, but also in anonymous works of fiction of the last quarter of the 19th century. At least two periods can be singled out in the history of the development of the “parasha’s plot”: period of formation (first half of the XIX century) and period of modification (late XIX – early XX centuries).Aim and objectives. Among the aims of the article are: to introduce into scientific circulation the discovered anonymous stories based on “parasha’s plot”; to study interconnections of these texts; to trace changes in the plot code of these anonymous stories; and finally – to establish whether the patterns of plot development are universal for all so-called secondary texts, regardless of the source of their plot. Material and methods. As material for the study, four anonymous stories on the “parasha’s plot” related to the last quarter of the 19th century were taken. The work uses comparative and structural methods, as well as the method of intertextual analysis.Results and discussion. Anonymous stories based on the “parasha’s plot” reveal a close interconnection at the textual level, which suggests a sequence in which they emerged. The plot code of each of the stories demonstrates deformations or “empty spaces” (lacunae), which define the direction for the development of the plot in each subsequent version.Conclusion. Anonymous stories which belong to the second period of “parasha’s plot” development represent its integral stage, which consists in its gradual deformation both at the level of plot elements and at the level of ideological content. At the same time, the modifications of the plot code in the anonymous stories confirm the regularities revealed in the analysis of the plot codes of the secondary texts regardless of their plot origin.

“parasha’s plot”, plot code, Parasha sibiryachka, Parasha Lypolova, Alexander Pushkin, “The Captain’s Daughter”, Nikolai Polevoi, Lydia Charskaya