Towards the formation of an initial Russian statehood in Boris Akunin’s novel “The Fiery Finger” and the first volume of “The History of the Russian State”

Abstract

   This article is an experience in analyzing the authorial conception of the formation and development of the statehood in Old Russia, presented in the first volumes (historical and fictional) of Boris Akunin’s project “The History of the Russian State” in terms of a multidisciplinary approach, rethinking of historical chronology, stories of chronicles or historical personalities, presentation of ancient pre-Mongol Russia in socio-cultural and near-political aspects. Some of the author’s personal references, notes, opinions and methods are caused by the needs of potential readers and the current socio-political situation. The original synthesis of history and literature, proposed by the author in a multi-volume work, allows us to consider familiar things from a new angle, to speak about the revival of updated historical prose and of interest in the historical process. A comprehensive analysis of the scientific and literary texts of the work indicates the formation of a new stage in the development of interdisciplinary processes, which made it possible to present a kind of postmodern historical concept of the formation of the Russian state.