Motif of Hunting in M. M. Prishvin’s “Mystical” Stories of the 1900s and the Novel The Chain of Kashchey: Epistemological Aspect
This article considers one of the structure-forming motifs of M. M. Prishvin’s work, i.e. the motif of hunting. A close examination of the material from the early “mystical” stories of the 1900s (The Beast of Krutoyarsk, Bird Cemetery, and Woman’s Puddle) reveals the presence of two distinct types o...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Russian |
| Published: |
Ural Federal University Press
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Известия Уральского федерального университета. Серия 2: Гуманитарные науки |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.urfu.ru/index.php/Izvestia2/article/view/8500 |
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| Summary: | This article considers one of the structure-forming motifs of M. M. Prishvin’s work, i.e. the motif of hunting. A close examination of the material from the early “mystical” stories of the 1900s (The Beast of Krutoyarsk, Bird Cemetery, and Woman’s Puddle) reveals the presence of two distinct types of characters, as analysed through the lenses of motif and typology approaches. These characters are categorised as “successful hunters” and “unlucky hunters”. In all the three works, Prishvin implements the same typological scheme: unsuccessful hunt — acquisition — loss. The aim of this paper is to show that the functioning of the hunting motif in Prishvin’s texts is based on an ontological motif: hunting is conceptualised as a way of “getting” and learning the truth (through a Platonic perspective), while unsuccessful hunting is viewed as the loss of man’s integral (kinship) ties with the world. Moreover, Prishvin unfolds hunting not only as an epistemological but also as a love act, closely linking the plots of unsuccessful hunters with the love lines in the narrative. The plot scheme “lost” by the writer in his early work returns and acquires new meanings in the autobiographical novel The Chain of Kashchey. The hunting motif is realised in the chapters Gusek, Marital Flight, and Living Night. The chapter about the unsuccessful hunt is connected with the memories of the boy Kurymushka; the unlucky hunter complex is realised in the love story about Inna Rostovtseva, and then overcome through the feeling of co-creative connections with the world, turning into a literary hunt for plots — “the hunt for happiness”. The final part of the article draws a conclusion about the life-building and literary-centric nature of the hunting motif in the creative heritage of the writer. |
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| ISSN: | 2227-2283 2587-6929 |