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The conceptual and denotative aspect and its artistic realisation in Leonid Andreev’s short story Lazarus [Eleazar]
https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2021-6-30-43
Abstract
L. Andreev’s short story Lazarus [Eleazar] deals with death. Having returned with the knowledge of Death, the resurrected Lazarus becomes a Shadow of himself, or the Shadow he experienced There. The publication of Andreev’s Lazarus in 1906 unleashed a heated polemic in the press. Critics tended to see Lazarus in a negative light. The article outlines the opinions of the authors who participated in the discussion of the concept and contents of Lazarus: Z. Gippius, M. Gorky, M. Voloshin, and A. Lunacharsky, among others. The existential dichotomy of life and death offers a key to unlock the secret of the story. The protagonist, familiar with death, refuses to divulge the mystery of the divine revelation: to the world of the living, death shall remain a mystery. Andreev’s oeuvre was always dominated by matters of life and death. Lazarus’ borderline and existential mood is exaggerated to the absurd. The writer perceives death as the sole purpose of life and its metaphysical meaning.
About the Authors
Yu. P. Ben
Taras Shevchenko Transnistria State University
Moldova, Republic of
Moldova, Republic of
Yury P. Ben, literary critic
107 25 Oktayabrya St., Tiraspol, 3300
E. D. Trimoruk
Taras Shevchenko Transnistria State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Evgeny D. Trimoruk, poet, prose writer, literary critic
107 25 Oktayabrya St., Tiraspol, 3300
References
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Review
For citations:
Ben Yu.P., Trimoruk E.D. The conceptual and denotative aspect and its artistic realisation in Leonid Andreev’s short story Lazarus [Eleazar]. Voprosy literatury. 2021;(6):30-43. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2021-6-30-43
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