IMAGE OF THE EAST IN “LETTERS OF A RUSSIAN FROM PERSIA” BY N. F. MASALSKY

Abstract

The article examines one of the works of documentary literature, which contains information about Persia in the mid-19th century. This kind of literature includes notes, letters and travel journals of Russian diplomats, military officers and travelers who visited Persia in the 18th – 19th centuries. This layer of literature has been practically unexplored. The article analyzes “Letters of a Russian from Persia” by Nikolai Fedorovich Masalsky, a professional military man and artilleryman. In 1839 he was sent to Persia to organize technical artillery institutions and train artillery officers. “Letters of a Russian from Persia” represent a reliable and valuable source of information about Persia. The “Letters” comprehensively describe the natural realities, religious, social, cultural and everyday aspects of the life of the Persians. Thematically “Letters” are included in the eastern text of Russian literature. They have signs of ambassadorial discourse. “Letters of a Russian from Persia” is in the form of an epistolary. From this point of view, the genre features of the text are analyzed: the structure of the epistolary, artistic means, style. The analysis establishes that descriptions of an unfamiliar geographical, social and cultural space and numerous Persian realities form the core of the travel narrative and have the properties of a guide to the country. The author's innovation in the formation of new functional properties of a travelogue – the properties of a guidebook – is noted.

Extended abstract:

The article focuses on Nikolay Fedorovich Masalsky's little-known work, "Letters of Russian from Persia," which was published in 1844. Masalsky, a professional military artillerist, was sent to Persia by the country and stayed there for a year. During his time in Persia, Masalsky made notes that formed the basis of his "Letters of Russian from Persia." The article aims to examine this work as a documental novelistic piece within the framework of eastern text in Russian literature and to describe its features. The article sets up a hypothesis that there exists a thematic text unity in eastern text of Russian literature, called "an embassy discourse." This type of literature consists of documental and documental novelistic prose and has a multi-genre character. The method of analysis used includes analyzing the genre features of the text, the plot function of the route, the author's means of toponymic nomination of the unknown space, finding the thematic embassy kernel in the text, and listing the objects of landscape, social, and cultural space. The analysis shows that Masalsky's "Letters" have the following features of embassy discourse: a thoroughly depicted route serves as the main plot of the letters, the author translates Persian toponyms and comments on them, and the kernel of the embassy discourse is given by the description of ceremonies and social stratification of society. Masalsky widely spreads the list of described objects and facts of geographic, social, and cultural space of Persia compared to his ancestors. Additionally, he was the first Russian author to describe religion and religious ritualism among Persians. The article concludes that "Letters of Russian from Persia" can be considered the first Russian travel log and travel guide. The work has a documental novelistic character, and the author tends to make the text reliable, historically accurate, scientific, and entertaining by adding his own impressions, oral traditions, and ethnographic details. The choice of methods of description in the travel log can be considered the form of manifestation of the author's beginning in the documentary and the way of the text's novelization.