Intertextual elements as means of creating parody in the 17th century Russian satire

Abstract

This research investigates intertextual elements as the basis of genre modifications for producing comic effect. The research material includes 12 texts from the Russian literary parody of the 17^th century. We have chosen intertextual elements to be analyzed in this research, because they transfer the context of original texts to new texts, which is considerably important for literary parody. Consequently, intertextual elements work as markers of content and compositional-structural features of parodying a genre. The relevance of the research is determined by the interest in the culture of the past, in particular, the culture of 17^th-century Ancient Rus in terms of the anthropocentric paradigm of modern scientific knowledge. The analysis of the research material makes it possible to identify mechanisms of producing comic effect in the Russian literary parody of the 17^th century. Intertextual elements, that refer to written genres (religious literature and official documents) are used more frequently (248 out of 307 intertextual elements). Intertextual elements, referring to oral genres (proverbs and sayings, folktales, etc.), are used four times less (59 out of 307 intertexual elements). The Russian literary parody of the 17^th century tends to combine intertextual elements of both types of genres (oral and written) in one text. It leads to the situation, in which a discrepancy arises between the element of content and the element of expression. It is clearly seen when comparing new texts against original texts (or genres).