Spanish topos in F.M. Dostoevsky's Siberian novellas

The article focuses on the locus of Spain in F.M. Dostoevsky's Siberian novellas "Uncle's Dream" and "The Village of Stepanchikovo: And its Inhabitants". In Dostoevsky's works, the mythogenic capacity of Spain as a country of dream, love, and miracles is ironically discredited through comparison with Siberian realities. Marya Aleksandrovna Moska-lyova has sketchy and eclectic knowledge of geography based on stereotypes and tourist's cliches following the pattern - a country, its architectural symbol and hydronym. Chosen as an architectural symbol, Alhambra is an impressive Mauritian architectural and park ensemble of the 14th century, and the river Guadalquivir, a hydronym that sounds unusual for the Russian hearing, is compared to "the local nasty rivulet with an indecent name". The euphony and exotic sounding of the hydronym is even more emphasized, because the name of the local rivulet is not given. Moskalyova does not know that Granada and Alhambra are located in the southeast, while the Guadalquivir and Seville - in the southwest of the country. She also misses the city names. The character, then, speaks about "an unusual island of Malaga, that sounds as a name of some wine", confusing the port of Malaga with the island of Majorca in the centre of the Balearic Islands, which is characteristic of the level of awareness of the first lady in Mordasov, who appreciates the mythogenic potential of Spain as of a different, more attractive world: "Spain, my God!" Dostoevsky uses the minus-device, not giving the name of Spanish cities (Granada, Seville) as if checking the expertise of the readers. The Siberian provincial town is given a conventional name - Mordasov (from Russian 'morda', a derogatory noun meaning 'an ugly disgusting face'), specifying that its inhabitants have muzzles rather than faces. Such comparison with fauna emphasizes the domination of the low pragmatical purposes and lack of spiritual needs. Malaga, not as a wonderful island, but as a sort of rare sweet wine, is mentioned in "The Village of Stepanchikovo" in Chapter 5 of the second part entitled "Foma Fomich creates general happiness. In this chapter Opiskin (a permanent houseguest who lives at the expense of others) gives his consent so that Rostanev might marry Nastenka. The reason for such a happy end is Foma's alcoholic intoxication, which generates complacency and finally leads to general happiness. Traced to Gogol's biographic text, the episode when guests drink Malaga has a different final in the novella: to general amazement, there are "still four bottles left", which that creates a picture of farmstead paradise and raises a problem of true and false virtues.

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