Period in L. N. Tolstoy's Novel “War and Peace”


2024. № 1, 107-123

Mstislav I. Shutan, Nizhny Novgorod Institute of Education Development (Russia, Nizhny Novgorod), mshutan@mail.ru

Abstract:

The article presents a grouping of periods included in the text of the epic novel by Leo Tolstoy War and Peace. It must be noted that the classification is based on the nature of the logical-semantic relations between the two main elements of a particular period. This is 1) a generalization based on the above facts (with details of an interior or a portrait of the character); 2) cause-and-effect relations between the two components of the period (memories that affect moral and psychological state of the hero; the influence of the surrounding world on the psychological state of the character; the sequence of actions and psychological reactions of the character, the consequence of which is a certain state of mind; fixation of factors affecting the actions of the character, which are mentioned in the second component of the period); 3) concessionary relations (a decision made by a character contrary to his own reflections; reality opposed to the interpretation events; discrepancy between reality and what should have happened); 4) the second part of the period synthesizing the information presented in the first part. At the same time, the article emphasizes that in the epic novel War and Peace, the period is one of the ways to focus the reader's attention on artistic information that acquires special significance in the novel (images of Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov, Nikolai Rostov, Napoleon, Captain Tushin, regimental commander, author's remarks).

For citation:

Shutan M. I. Period in L. N. Tolstoy’s Novel “War and Peace”. Russian Speech = Russkaya Rech’. 2024. No. 1. Pp. 107–123. DOI: 10.31857/S0131611724010095.