The Strugatsky brothers: Methods of modeling an automyth

Abstract

   The automyth of the writer is genetically related to the genres of biography and autobiography, hagiographic literature, and the genre of “literary monument”. Its important features are the creation of an idealized image of the writer with the aim to influence both the existing reader and potential reader. In this regard, the quintessence of the “myth about the writer” is the paragraph “about the author” on the back cover of the book, which the reader looks at when deciding whether to buy it or not. Now the myth about the writer is an important component of the marketing policy of the author or his literary agent. Based on the analysis of the Strugatsky brothers’ life and work, one can come to the conclusion that the basis of the myth is the triad “biography-creativity-environment”. The myth about the writer is rarely based on reality, it creates the image that is most necessary for a specific goal - to influence the reader. And most importantly, the task of the myth is to increase “the most likely number of readers of the text”.