The artistic space of Y. Trifonov’s The House on the Embankment [Dom na naberezhnoy]

Abstract

The article analyzes artistic space as a key level of the poetics of Y. Trifonov’s The House on the Embankment [Dom na naberezhnoy]. The research uses various methods and points out two spatial strata: the level of characters (existential-phenomenological aspect) and that of the author, the demiurge (semiotic and structural-typological methods). In the artistic space of The House on the Embankment, incorporating the personal environments of the book’s characters, topoi and loci assume symbolic meaning. A character’s existence in a particular space and their ability or inability to cross its boundary are pre-determined by the author and perform a characterological function. The article focuses in detail on the protagonist, Glebov. His traversal of spaces is only seemingly related to the crossing of boundaries. He forever remains within the same social space, only shifting between its poles; driven by false social values (success, power, and material wealth), he postpones real life over and over again.