Chekhovian and Gogolian motifs in Genrikh Baranovich’s cycle Near Gold on the Amur [Okolo zolota na Amure]

The article is devoted to Genrikh V. Baranovich (1860–1912), a turnof-the-century writer who remained in obscurity for over a hundred years despite the popularity of his collection Near Gold on the Amur [Okolo zolota na Amure] with Siberian readers. By reintroducing his name into contemporary scholarly discourse, A. Urmanov is adding a missing fragment that allows for better appreciation of the wealth and diversity of early 20th-century Russian literature. The study explores the system of motifs that reveals direct descendance of Baranovich’s book from the Russian classics in terms of its themes and poetics. Comparative analysis facilitates the conclusion that a combination of local content and national artistic codes enhances the ideological and conceptual significance of the cycle and charges it with a universal meaning. Creative use of Gogolian and Chekhovian motifs in depictions of the exotic Amur region ensures the book’s spot in the global cultural dialogue and provokes interest among the writer’s contemporaries and modern-day readers alike.

1. Baranovich, G. (1904). Letter to the editor. Vostochnoe Obozrenie, 9 July, p. 2. (In Russ.)

2. Baranovich, G. (1904-1905). Near gold on the Amur [Okolo zolota na Amure]: Sketches and stories. Issues 1-2. Tomsk: Tipolit. P. I. Makushina. (In Russ.)

3. Blok, А. (1912). In memoriam K. V. Bravich. Teatr, [online] 15 Nov. Available at: http://dugward.ru/library/blok/blok_pamyati_bravicha.html [Accessed 16 Apr. 2025]. (In Russ.)

4. Chekhov, A. (1976). Complete works and letters (30 vols). Letters in 12 vols. Vol. 4. Ed. by N. Belchikov. Moscow: Nauka. (In Russ.)

5. Chekhov, A. (1987). Sakhalin Island (From travel notes) [Ostrov Sakhalin (Iz putevykh zametok)]. In: A. Chekhov, Complete works and letters (30 vols). Works (18 vols). Vol. 14-15. Ed. by N. Belchikov. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 39-372. (In Russ.)

6. Kondakova, Y. (2007). Sarcronyms in N. Gogol’s works. In: O. Zyryanov, ed., Classical literature and religious discourse (problems of axiology and poetics): Collected papers. Yekaterinburg: Uralskiy un-t, pp. 150-168. (In Russ.)

7. Kondakova, Y. (2009). Onomastic code in N. V. Gogol’s artistic world. Izvestiya Uralskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta, 1/2, pp. 292-297. (In Russ.)

8. Kruglova, A. (2015). Genrikh Vikentievich Baranovich: His life and reminiscences of A. P. Chekhov. In: E. Orlov and E. Khudyakova, eds., Link [Zveno]: Bulletin of museum life. 2013-2014. Moscow: Gosudarstvenniy literaturniy muzey, pp. 111-116. (In Russ.)

9. Mymrina, D. (2014). N. V. Gogol’s anthroponyms: Structural‑semantic and translation aspects. Filologicheskie Nauki: Voprosy Teorii i Praktiki, 4, Part 1, pp. 147-150. (In Russ.)

10. Spasovich, V. (1908). Seven court speeches on political cases (1877-1887). St. Petersburg: V. Vrublevsky. (In Russ.)