The Yuletide Story Genre in the Works of the Komi Writer M.N. Lebedev

Abstract

This study aims to fill gaps in the study of M.N. Lebedev’s pre-revolutionary literary legacy. The material used is little-known works by the writer, dating back to his early creative period: the “scary” the Yuletide story “Ivan the Naked” (1900) and “At Christmastide” (1911). The research problem is the specific plot structure of the works, which reveal the writer's active reliance on known versions of Christmastide plots. The plotline of the first story is extremely close to one of the most productive and popular forms of Komi folklore - hunting tales associated with the regulation of the behavior of hunters during certain calendar periods, including a ban on hunting activities during Christmastide. The second story draws on the tradition of Russian Christmastide fiction, including a particular example - N.M. Zagoskin̕s cycle of stories “Evening on the Khopra,” in which the narration is from the perspective of characters belonging to the landed gentry. The use of various socio-cultural sources is explained by M.N. Lebedev’s attempt to capture the perception of Christmastide by different strata of contemporary society: popular ideas about the sacred significance of Christmastide time and the loss of ritual significance of Christmastide traditions by the educated “district aristocracy”.