The image of childhood in I.S. Shmelev's epic «Sun of the dead»

The purpose of this research is to consider the specifics of the artistic embodiment of the image of childhood in the epic «Sun of the dead» by the outstanding writer of the Russian Diaspora of the first half of the XX century I. S. Shmelev. The relevance of the research is determined by the noticeably increased interest in modern literary studies in the creative heritage of the writer, the desire to comprehend the fullness and complexity of his artistic world. The methods of the research were interpretation, comparison, observation, and generalization. The results obtained in the course of literary analysis showed that in the work under consideration, children's images appear as the personification of spiritual purity, innocence, strength and true beauty. While maintaining an inner closeness to God, child heroes in the most difficult external circumstances are able to show love and kindness to people around them, to sympathize with their grief and misfortune. The existential plan of earthly existence, the ontological understanding of reality are the most organic for children's perception of the world. The image-symbol of the dove becomes the most characteristic expression of the purity of the child's heart. The epic mainly shows images of suffering children experiencing hunger and poverty, who have lost their homes and loved ones. The motives of child death, spiritual deadness, and the corrupting influence of adults on fragile children's souls, which are one of the key motives of the text, determine the development of its most important moral problem - the measures of adult responsibility for decisions made and actions performed. The historical context of the work - the events of the Civil war and the post - revolutionary terror in the Crimea-raises this problem to F. M. Dostoevsky's reflections on the «teardrop of a child», the goals and means of achieving harmony and happiness of mankind. The most important role in the «Sun of the dead» is played by the principle of contrasting images and motifs, implemented in individual episodes and chapters dedicated to children, as well as their inclusion in a broad biblical and symbolic context. The author-narrator's reflections on the need to return to God and the Gospel commandments about love, forgiveness and mercy become the leading semantic dominant of the final work.

I. S. Shmelev, literature of the Russian abroad, childhood, image of childhood, hero-child, children's images, image of death, motive, motive of hunger, theme of «lost Paradise», epic «Sun of the dead»

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