Maxim S. Milenin

Postgraduate Student of the Department of Russian Language and Literature

Tula State Lev Tolstoy Pedagogical University

(Tula, Russia)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22405/2712-8407-2024-3-148-160

Abstract. The article presents a linguopoetic analysis of Leonid Nikolayevich Andreyev’s novella The Life of Vasily Fiveysky, aimed at exploring the specific linguistic devices and artistic techniques that shape the expressive content of the text. It examines the semantic transformation of key concepts in the work, such as life and truth, which intensify the novella's existential and religious motifs. The extensive use of pessimistic, emotionally expressive vocabulary creates a sustained effect of emotional tension. The analysis of the novella’s semantic core separately investigates the role of the numerals one and two, which reflect both the theme of solitude and the text's thematic opposition between human and God, providing a foundation for the protagonist’s psychological portrayal. The article also explores the novella’s symbolic onomastic space and stylistic features, including inversions, repetitions, and personifications. It highlights the stylistic and syntactic devices in the work that establish its unique rhythm, amplifying its impact on the reader. In examining the novella’s themes and genrespecific features, the study identifies a blend of naturalism and realism, with the central theme – a crisis of faith and morality in a priest – revealed through a richly expressive psychological analysis of the character. Thus, existential issues, rather than religious ones, take precedence, while expressionism serves as a linguistic framework for conveying the work’s theme. The study concludes that the author actively employs lexical and syntactic techniques to create emotional tension, reflecting the protagonist's spiritual crisis and isolation, making the work an example of early expressionism in Russian literature.
Keywords: Leonid Andreyev, The Life of Vasiliy Fiveysky, linguopoetic analysis, expressionism, semantics, onomastics, inversions, repetitions, personification, symbolism, emotional tension, artistic techniques, psychological depth.

Full text of the article (PDF)

For citation: Milenin, MS 2024, ‘Features of the Linguopoetic Study of Leonid Andreyev's Fictional Prose: a Case Study of the Novella The Life of Vasiliy Fiveysky’, Tula Scientific Bulletin. History. Linguistics, issue 3 (19), pp. 148–160, http://doi.org/10.22405/2712-8407-2024-3-148-160 (in Russ.)

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