Из материалов для комментария к «Капитанской дочке» (26–42) [Notes and Queries on _The Captain’s Daughter_ (26–42)]

Abstract

The following notes highlight some of the structural patterns and textual fragments of Alexander Pushkin’s Captain’s Daughter overlooked by previous scholarship. Thus, I address the narrative strategy of shifting a character’s attributes so that the character’s initial connotations are seamlessly transformed into their opposites. This corresponds to the novel’s overall narrative principle of relativizing the seemingly obvious and stable. Additionally, I explore some of the narrative formulas specific to the historical novel, and comment on some of the historical information on the everyday life and social realities of 18^th-century Russia contained in The Captain’s Daughter (the various forms of currency used by the different classes; Pugachev’s military equipment, etc.).

KEYWORDS: Gabriel Superfin at 80, 19^th-Century Russian Literature, Alexander Pushkin (1799—1837), The Captain’s Daughter, The Minor (Nedorosl’) and his education, Yemelyan Pugachev’s rebellion (1772—1774), Monetary System in 18^th-Century Russia, Narrative Formulas, History of Literature.