Роль животных в русской и других литературах

Title: Роль животных в русской и других литературах
Transliterated title
Rol' životnych v russkoj i drugich literaturach
Variant title:
  • The role of animals in Russian and other literatures
Author: Porter, Robert
Source document: Slavica litteraria. 2012, vol. 15, iss. 1, pp. [9]-16
Extent
[9]-16
  • ISSN
    1212-1509 (print)
    2336-4491 (online)
Type: Article
Language
License: Not specified license
Rights access
embargoed access
 

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Abstract(s)
The article defines five categories of animals in literature: i) morally instructive (Sentimentalism), ii) the "outsider", iii) moral superiority of animals as against humans, iv) the absurd, v) the threatening. The first category survives right through to the present, especially in children's literature and, in any case, the categories overlap, with Russian literature defying any attempts at "periodisation": the absurd is found in Gogol as well as Voinovich; the morally instructive is in Tolstoy and Vladimov. The moral superiority of animals is especially prevalent in Twentieth Century Russian literature and is graphically epitomised in Shalamov's affection for cats in preference to human beings.