The Caucasian plot of Leo Tolstoy

The article discusses the issue of the development of the concept of Caucasian peoples in the works of Leo Tolstoy: from the image of the mountaineers as natural, somewhat idealized types (The Cossacks) to the assertion of their universal nature ("The Prisoner of the Caucasus") and the introduction to the novel type of a person whose fate reflects the most important features of Russian life of the late 19th century (Hadji Murat). The question is raised about the artistic ways of recreating the image of the Caucasian mountaineers. During Tolstoy's stay in the Caucasus (1851-1854) and in the following decade, his attention is focused on the benevolent interest in the mountaineers - their ethnography and folklore. While working on The Cossacks Tolstoy develops a concept built on the inclusion of the people of the Caucasus in the common human space. In many respects this was the result of reading Homer, the assimilation of Homer's equalisation of people of different nationalities and religions in the development of human society. Tolstoy, who entered into controversy with the romantic image of the Caucasus which does not violate the principles of a realistic portrayal of mountaineers, nevertheless shows them in an ideal plan, emphasising originality, savagery, strong feelings or nature. This "realistic demonisation" reflected Tolstoy's feeling of guilt over the oppressed Caucasus, over the inability to resolve the problem of freedom and captivity. Tolstoy again turns to the Caucasian theme in 1872. In the short story "The Prisoner of the Caucasus" Tolstoy seeks simple, primordial, folk forms of a relationship devoid of any morbidity. Ancient Greek literature was distinguished by such qualities. Xenophon's Anabasis could be the model for "The Prisoner of the Caucasus". Tolstoy's story has a number of coincidences in the choice of plot, the manner of narration, the nature of descriptions, landscapes with Anabasis as one of the sources,. The third stage of Tolstoy's turn to the Caucasian theme is at the turn of the century -1896-1904. Tolstoy creates a story in which the protagonist is the Chechen Hadji Murat. Tolstoy set the fate of Hadji Murat in connection with Russian problems, thus the concept of the character's personality acquired an epic scale and its tragic fate was all-Russian in nature. Throughout the story, Hadji Murat appears as a type of a character typical of Russian life at the end of the 19th century: a tragic person set in a situation of the lack of choice, and therefore doomed to tense hesitations.

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