Interaction of non-fiction and fiction in the book series “The Lives of Remarkable People”
https://doi.org/10.26907/2782-4756-2025-81-3-143-149
Abstract
The article presents the results of a study of the documentary and fictional content in the book series “The Lives of Remarkable People”. In the course of the structural and comparative analysis of V. Afanasyev’s books “Lermontov” (1991) and M. Roshchin’s “Ivan Bunin” (2000), devoted to the life and work of these outstanding writers, we found that both works are characterized by a genre synthesis that includes both the predominant documentary content (а biography, a diary, epistolary, interviews and memoirs) and the pronounced fictional origin (an essay, feature article, short story, novella and a novel). The combination of “non-fiction” and “fiction” in a biographical narrative significantly affects its plot construction, composition, narrative style, ways of expressing the author’s position and the choice of linguistic means. The research includes the tasks of identifying the features of coexistence of creative and strict factual interpretation, of objective and fictional elements in a single biographical text, as well as possible author’s bias. As the study proves, the absence of a unified format in the current “The Lives of Remarkable People” series provides greater scope for creative and scientific experimentation, allowing to coexist for both serious literary works and “literary novels”, sometimes characterized by prejudice and bias.
About the Author
N. N. KoznovaRussian Federation
Koznova Natalia Nikolaevna, Doctor of Philology, Professor,
18 Bolshaya Morskaya Str., Saint Petersburg, 191186
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Review
For citations:
Koznova N.N. Interaction of non-fiction and fiction in the book series “The Lives of Remarkable People”. Philology and Culture. 2025;(3):143-149. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.26907/2782-4756-2025-81-3-143-149