Peculiar Features of Oriental Motifs’ Realisation in M.Y. Lermontov's fairy tale Ashik-Kerib and T. Gautifer's novella La Mille et Deuxième Nuit

Abstract

The article discusses various authors' approaches to the implementation of oriental motifs based on M.Y. Lermontov's fairy tale Ashik-Kerib and T. Gautier's novella La Mille et Deuxième Nuit. Lermontov's adherence to the fairy-tale canon as well as the development of the love motif based on oriental bookishness, the Russian writer's respectful attitude to the Orient culture realised through delicate use of oriental details taking the reader's reception into account, and the elimination of European clichés depicting the psychological portrait of oriental characters are noted. It is shown that T. Gautier's novella La Mille et Deuxième Nuit, on the contrary, represents a bright aesthetic stylization in a pseudo-oriental manner abundant in exoticisms and orientalisms, and imitating the genre of the monument of Arabic and Persian literature The Thousand and One Nights and a frame narrative. There have been discovered a number of inaccuracies in the use of oriental color, the writer's casual attitude to the psychology of characters and Orient culture as a whole, which is indicative of viewing the Orient only as an experimental aesthetic platform.

Extended abstract:

The article discusses various authors' approaches to the implementation of oriental motifs based on M.Y. Lermontov's fairy tale Ashik-Kerib and T. Gautier's novella La Mille et Deuxième Nuit. The article is aimed at showing the peculiarities of the Oriental motifs’ functioning in the Russian literary fairy tale by Lermontov and in the French novella by Gautier. The article is based on the hypothesis about Lermontov's high esteem of the foreign cultural fundamentals, while Gautier perceives the Orient superficially, as an exotic component of the French literature. The analysis of Lermontov's fairy tale Ashik-Kerib and Gautier's novella La Mille et Deuxième Nuit is based on the comparative method, with elements of historical-typological, hermeneutic and mythopoetic methods involved. The novelty of the article lies in the fact that the analysis of Lermontov's fairy tale Ashik-Kerib and Gautier's novella La Mille et Deuxième Nuit in the comparative aspect has been carried out for the first time. As a result of the study, the following conclusions were made. Lermontov's adherence to the fairy-tale canon as well as the development of the love motif based on oriental bookishness, the Russian writer's respectful attitude to the Orient culture realized through delicate use of oriental details taking the reader's reception into account, and the elimination of European clichés depicting the psychological portrait of oriental characters are noted. Lermontov's work Ashik-Kerib combines the international fairy-tale narrative model with the psychological literary school experience. According to the fairy tale laws, the numbers 7, 4, 3 and 2 become relevant here. The appointment of lovers who faint due to the exuberance of feeling, is described in the spirit of Nizami's poems. It is shown that T. Gautier's novella La Mille et Deuxième Nuit, on the contrary, represents a bright aesthetic stylization in a pseudo-oriental manner abundant in exoticisms and orientalisms, and imitating the genre of the monument of Arabic and Persian literature The Thousand and One Nights and a frame narrative. The density of the use of lexemes with the meaning «East» («Orient») in the novella is very high – they occur 11 times in various combinations. The main character of the novella resembles the idler Aladdin from the cycle of Persian origin about Harun al-Rashid. The interior descriptions are also permeated with Oriental luxury. Gautier takes to the technique of mise en abyme (multiplying the punishment line). There have been discovered a number of inaccuracies in the use of oriental color, the writer's casual attitude to the psychology of characters and Orient culture as a whole, which is indicative of viewing the Orient only as an experimental aesthetic platform.