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...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Elena Anatolyevna Khudenko
Format: Article
Language:Russian
Published: Ural Federal University Press 2025-01-01
Series:Известия Уральского федерального университета. Серия 2: Гуманитарные науки
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.urfu.ru/index.php/Izvestia2/article/view/8500
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849328187335507968
author Elena Anatolyevna Khudenko
author_facet Elena Anatolyevna Khudenko
author_sort Elena Anatolyevna Khudenko
collection DOAJ
description 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.
format Article
id doaj-art-20f982c9f5184597b0dcb19b20ff41dc
institution Kabale University
issn 2227-2283
2587-6929
language Russian
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Ural Federal University Press
record_format Article
series Известия Уральского федерального университета. Серия 2: Гуманитарные науки
spelling doaj-art-20f982c9f5184597b0dcb19b20ff41dc2025-08-20T03:47:39ZrusUral Federal University PressИзвестия Уральского федерального университета. Серия 2: Гуманитарные науки2227-22832587-69292025-01-0126410.15826/izv2.2024.26.4.0615666Motif of Hunting in M. M. Prishvin’s “Mystical” Stories of the 1900s and the Novel The Chain of Kashchey: Epistemological AspectElena Anatolyevna Khudenko0Алтайский государственный педагогический университет, БарнаулThis 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.https://journals.urfu.ru/index.php/Izvestia2/article/view/8500пришвинмотив охотыцикл«мистические» рассказыроман«кащеева цепь»гносеология
spellingShingle Elena Anatolyevna Khudenko
Motif of Hunting in M. M. Prishvin’s “Mystical” Stories of the 1900s and the Novel The Chain of Kashchey: Epistemological Aspect
Известия Уральского федерального университета. Серия 2: Гуманитарные науки
пришвин
мотив охоты
цикл
«мистические» рассказы
роман
«кащеева цепь»
гносеология
title Motif of Hunting in M. M. Prishvin’s “Mystical” Stories of the 1900s and the Novel The Chain of Kashchey: Epistemological Aspect
title_full Motif of Hunting in M. M. Prishvin’s “Mystical” Stories of the 1900s and the Novel The Chain of Kashchey: Epistemological Aspect
title_fullStr Motif of Hunting in M. M. Prishvin’s “Mystical” Stories of the 1900s and the Novel The Chain of Kashchey: Epistemological Aspect
title_full_unstemmed Motif of Hunting in M. M. Prishvin’s “Mystical” Stories of the 1900s and the Novel The Chain of Kashchey: Epistemological Aspect
title_short Motif of Hunting in M. M. Prishvin’s “Mystical” Stories of the 1900s and the Novel The Chain of Kashchey: Epistemological Aspect
title_sort motif of hunting in m m prishvin s mystical stories of the 1900s and the novel the chain of kashchey epistemological aspect
topic пришвин
мотив охоты
цикл
«мистические» рассказы
роман
«кащеева цепь»
гносеология
url https://journals.urfu.ru/index.php/Izvestia2/article/view/8500
work_keys_str_mv AT elenaanatolyevnakhudenko motifofhuntinginmmprishvinsmysticalstoriesofthe1900sandthenovelthechainofkashcheyepistemologicalaspect